Hate is a Strong Word
by millie81994
Summary: Somewhere in between all their fights, long talks, laughter and jokes Ellie Wood had somehow fallen head over heels in love with James Sirius Potter.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own any of this, except for Ellie. **

Ellie Wood hated almost everything about James Potter.

1. When she dug her hands into his messy, auburn hair the smell of oranges overtook her. He used a citrusy shampoo after each Quidditch practice; she always rolled her eyes when he told her it was his "lucky shampoo". Truthfully Ellie believed that it _was_ lucky, but she'd never tell James that.

"_Why do you always use that stupid shampoo anyways?" Ellie asked throwing a glare at the bright orange shampoo bottle in James' hands. James threw her a smirk and took her hand in his as they left the change rooms together. _

"_It's lucky Wood," he answered her simply. Ellie snorted so loudly that a couple of first years looked around wondering what that noise was. "What? Don't believe me?"_

"_You've only been using the shampoo since fourth year, and you started on the Quidditch team in second year, same as me." Ellie thought that she had him cornered there, but only he gave her his infamous crooked smile. _

"_Who says it's only lucky for Quidditch?" He asked her, but Ellie only gave him a blank, confused look. "We got together in fourth year and I was wearing this shampoo the very day you said that you'd go out with me," Ellie gasped. James gave her a very annoying, cocky smile. _

"_Shit," Ellie muttered under her breath, he was right. _

2. She hated the way he was able to do nothing in class and yet still achieve high marks, while she had to work hard to achieve her marks. He always sat there lounging in every single one of the classes they had together, and to make it worse she was usually stuck sitting beside him.

"_What'd you get?" Ellie asked, leaning over to look at James' Charms test. He looked at her, noticing the pride swelling in her eyes. James turned his paper over so Ellie couldn't see it. "Hey!" Ellie cried angrily, she really wanted to see James' mark. _

"_You first," James answered. Ellie gave him a weird glance but obeyed him.  
_

_"I got Exceeds Expectations. Now it's your turn," James sighed but flipped over his paper and showed it to her. It had a giant red Outstanding on the front. Ellie's body slumped into her chair, she was depressed. Yet again James had managed to beat her with minimal effort. Ellie saw James' eyes fill with regret, so she quickly positioned herself straighter. _

"_Well done James!" She said as enthusiastically as she could muster. James knew that she was lying; he knew her better than she knew herself, but for now Ellie just wanted to remain somewhat not jealous._

3. Ellie hated the way James always managed to get her into trouble, even when she wasn't at fault. Countless times he had gotten her stuck in detention with him over and over again.

"_James, we can't fly now! Mum screamed so loudly last I broke the rules that I thought she was going to explode," Ellie tried reasoning with James, but once he got the idea that flying would be a great idea during one of her father's most important meetings there was no way to talk him out of it. _

"_C'mon EEW, you're never one to back away from a challenge!" Ellie scowled at James for the use of her initials: Eleanor Elizabeth Wood. "You're probably just scared; after all you know that a Potter could outfly a Wood anyday," James said. Ellie flared up immediately; there was no way she would lose to him. _

_Two minutes later, James had easily broken into her family's broom shed and grabbed two brooms randomly, Ellie didn't really care which ones he took since they were all the latest models. Oliver had to keep himself upgraded after all. They had gotten away with it for about fifteen minutes, Ellie was sure they wouldn't be caught. But when Ellie realized that James had been cheating, an argument erupted with both sides yelling at each other so furiously they had alerted the adults indoors. _

"_James, you're cheating!"  
_

_"No I'm not!" _

"_Yes, you are!" Ellie screamed back angrily. _

"_You're both cheating against my rules!" The new voice caused Ellie to whip her head around, only to face her mother, Patricia's angry face. Ellie turned back around to face James. _

"_I hate you," she seethed through her teeth, while James offered her a beaming smile. _

"_I love you too Ellie!" _

4. Ellie hated the fact that they had been neighbors since she had been born. To make everything worse their windows were right beside each other. The earliest memory she could remember of James was when their parents had gotten together, she remembered being placed next to a moderately chubby little boy with tufts of messy auburn hair. The first thing the three year old boy had done was hit her head with his hand.

_Ellie looked out her bedroom window to see James waving at her; she stuck her middle finger out at him. She was not having a good day; her little brothers Jason and Patrick seemed to find her the perfect target for their annoying jokes and teasing, to top it all off James had taught them most of the jokes. James laughed and opened his window, and called out something that unfortunately Ellie was able to hear._

"Hey sunshine!" Ellie gave him a sarcastic smile and then stuck her tongue out at him, she watched him laugh loudly. He was leaning out his window and Ellie sincerely hoped he would end up falling out.

"Ellie, can you open your window? Your brothers let off a couple of dumgbombs!" Ellie heard her father's voice coming up from down the hall.

"_Dad, I can't! James is waiting for me to open the window!" She heard Oliver's loud laugh.  
_

_"There's your reason to opening the window then," he answered her. Cursing her stupid brothers under her breath Ellie slammed her window open. She met James' grin with her own grimace and mentally prepared herself for a headache. _

5. Ellie hated that when James Potter slept, he always ended up with snoring or talking in his sleep. And sometimes when he slept he ended up kicking her, which didn't sit too well with Ellie.

_Ellie stared at her best friend from across the room. But Jovanna Michaels seemed to be ignoring all of Ellie's signals. Jovanna was beautiful, with long dark hair that fell down in waves to her back and striking grey eyes. She had been dancing every since she was six, which caused her body to be more versatile than Ellie's, it was something that cause Ellie to be insanely jealous over. Currently Jovanna was talking to her boyfriend Isaac Lucas, and not paying attention to Ellie's huge dilemma. Ellie finally gave up and turned her head down to face James.  
_

"_James, you idiot wake up!" Ellie tried shaking James off her but it didn't work, he wouldn't budge. James was laying on her, fully asleep, and snoring. People were laughing at her and Ellie swore under her breath angrily._

"_That's the last time I ever study with you!"  
_

_Ellie caught sight of Fred Weasley at that moment causing Ellie to grin with relief. "Fred!" He caught Ellie's eye and gave her a swift wave then he ran as fast as he could away from her. _

_"Idiot," Ellie muttered and began trying to push James off her again, but all she managed to do was shift James' head to a more uncomfortable position. That was when Ellie had finally had enough, she was about to push him off her when he began muttering._

"Ellieee," James muttered so quietly that Ellie wasn't sure she had even heard correctly._"Ellie," she had heard it loud and clear that time.  
He was dreaming about her, and it caused a flurry of snitches to fly around her stomach. At the moment Ellie didn't know what convinced her to stay still and watch James sleep, maybe it was the fact that she had feelings of her own developing deep down or maybe it was that she was just lonely but nevertheless Ellie Wood stayed with James Potter while he slept. _

6. Ellie hated that he knew everything about her. Amazingly, he even knew her better than Jovanna or her own mother knew her. Truthfully, Ellie didn't know whether it was a curse or a gift.

_"How did you remember that I love pumpkin juice more than butterbeer?" Ellie_ _asked James, as he placed her pumpkin juice in front of her and sat down. It was their one year anniversary, and James had snuck them into Hogsmeade. Sure, they were skiving off of half a day's classes, but it was worth it. James gave her a wide smile and took a sip of his butterbeer. _

_"I know more about you than you think," he answered and Ellie frowned unbelievingly. "Ask me anything."_

"What's my favorite movie?"

"Witches in Venice, but when you prefer something more actiony you go for Always Worth Fighting For," James gave her a confident grin and motioned for Ellie to continue. She was slightly taken aback but nevertheless fired off more questions.

"What's my favorite subject?"

"Ancient Runes."

"Favorite season?"

"Spring, because that's when you can smell the fresh rain the best." 

_"What is my mother's maiden name?"_

"Forrest," he replied and Ellie gave a loud groan. They continued this way for ten more minutes, Ellie firing off question after question while James got each question correct. Finally Ellie gave up, she had realized that he really did know her very well.

"I have a question for you Ellie..." James said suddenly. Ellie was surprised, but played along.

"What is it?"

"Do you love me?" James asked and although she was taken aback slightly again, she also knew the answer to that very question so Ellie grinned as she spoke the three little words that joined her closer to James.

"I love you,"

"I love you too." Their lips had joined together so quickly Ellie hadn't even realized it at first. 

**Aha, so romantic. Anyways, i will write the rest of Hate is a Strong Word soon. So, make my day and review, actually it's evening right now. Review. :) **_  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own a thing, except for Ellie. **

7. Ellie hated how James had his own fan club. They had regular meetings in a different empty classroom each Thursday. Ellie had spied on one of their meetings and learned that the fan-girls usually got together to make fun of Ellie, talk about what kind of food James likes best and when he would eventually break up with Ellie. Funnily enough, none of this bothered Ellie.

"_They're glaring at me again, aren't they?" Ellie hissed at James. They were in the library, trying to study for exams, at least Ellie was… James was busy shooting ink pellets at Terrence Gulliver's back. His whole back was now dyed blue; strangely enough Terrence didn't seem to notice, he only continued on reading his picture book. Ellie figured that he was so huge that nothing penetrated his body.  
"Who?" James asked turning back to Ellie.  
"Your giggling fan club," Ellie answered sending a look behind her shoulder at a group of girls. They were huddled around each other, whispering noisily and sending a glare or two in Ellie's direction every couple of seconds. Ellie turned her head back around to face her boyfriend, he was smiling slightly. _

"_Jealous?" He asked her, and his smile broke into a beaming grin. Ellie snorted loudly. _

"_I'm disgusted that's all," Ellie said, wrinkling her nose. _

"_They have nothing on you El," James said, and Ellie laughed. _

"_How so?"  
"You have every part of me on your side. They have no part of me loving them," James said. Ellie was surprised, James was known to talk romantically, but it only happened on occasions. But before she could reply, James lips were upon hers. Behind her, Ellie knew, the fan club was sitting with their jaws falling to the ground. She grinned inwardly and became once again caught up in James' amazing snogging abilities. In fact, both James and Ellie became so caught up they didn't notice Madame Pince stalking over, wielding her wand and looking furious. _

8. Ellie hated that James learned how to produce a patronus before she did. Her mother always seemed to be telling her to be first in everything and try hard. This was the way Ellie had grown up, and it just made her feel even worse when James managed to produce a real patronus before her.

_Ellie watched James lion patronus run around the empty common room, once in while swooping around her head. She kept her face as impassive as she could, for she knew that if she showed her true emotion, James would tease her something dreadful.  
"C'mon Ellie, just admit it; you're very jealous! You wish that you could create something as majestic and powerful as I can. You're angry that you weren't first to do it," James whispered in her ear. Ellie wasn't sure if it was her conscience or just plain James, but once she looked beside her she realized it was the one and only James.  
"I am not jealous," she stated firmly, more to herself than to James. But she knew that James didn't believe her at all. _

"_Prove it," he said.  
"How?"  
"You create your patronus," James replied. Ellie narrowed her eyes at James, he knew full well that she couldn't create an animal patronus; all she could create were wisps of silvery stuff. Ellie felt defeated. She knew it was stupid to feel so bad about not being able to create a patronus before someone else, but she couldn't help it.  
"I'll help you," James said. Ellie expected James to hold her wand for her, or to encourage her from the sidelines. What she didn't expect was the thing he did. James grabbed Ellie from around the waist and kissed her. He'd never kissed her this passionately. Her hands tangled in his hair, and he pulled her so tightly against his body; she felt like she couldn't breathe. Too soon James pulled away, leaving Ellie slightly disheveled and embarrassed. She knew she was turning a bright shade of red. James took her hand and raised his wand, Ellie unconsciously mimicked him.  
"Just think of that bloody good snogging session," he murmured in her ear and Ellie nodded. _

"_Expecto Patronum!" They yelled together. Out of James wand came his lion, and to Ellie's surprise something came out of her wand as well. It was a beautiful lioness. Ellie felt her mouth open as she gazed at her lioness and James' lion twisting together in some kind of dance. James looked at Ellie, he seemed surprised as well and Ellie met his gaze evenly. _

"_Thank you," Ellie whispered. _

9. Ellie hated James was made captain of the Quidditch team instead of her. She honestly believed that she deserved the captain rank more than James. He took great pride in rubbing it in Ellie's face every chance he got.

"_Good job everyone. We'll flatten Hufflepuff Saturday!" James praised enthusiastically. Ellie stayed behind as she watched the rest of the team walking back to the change rooms. James turned to Ellie and flashed a grin. _

"_You're reflexes were a bit slow, and you need to keep you eyes on the quaffle," James said. _

"_Ha! I suppose you consider yourself to be a better Chaser than me then?" Ellie asked angrily. James nodded his head superiorly and pointed at the Captain badge on his Quidditch robes. _

"_That would be why I am wearing this badge Wood," James turned his back on her and retreated to the change rooms. Ellie chased after her boyfriend, resisting the urge to slap him with her broomstick. _

"_Yeah? Well guess what Potter?" Ellie asked once she caught up with him. James stopped abruptly._

"_I got the Head Girl badge on my side," Ellie gloated, pointing at her own badge. James smiled at her.  
"I know. You were jumping around with that thing for days when you first got it. Anyways that badge doesn't mean a thing," James said.  
"What do you mean?"  
"You have no life," James concluded. Ellie finally lost her temper as she took her broomstick and hit James in the kneecap as hard as she could. "I do so have a life, if I had no life where would I find all that time to snog you?!" Ellie yelled so loudly that she heard a couple of owl hoot furiously. James jumped out of her way; he bent down, rubbing his bruised knee. Ellie was seething, but James knew his way out of this.  
"If there was a badge for best snogger, you'd get it Ellie," James knew it worked the moment he said it. Ellie's eyes softened and her face lightened up. To top it all off, she dropped her broomstick and ran at James. Forgetting everything that James had criticized she threw herself at him, dirty Quidditch robes and everything. As Ellie was kissing the life out of James, he couldn't help but think that he was home free. _

**Another chapter done and I really hope this one was alright. I just realized that they probably don't wear badges on their Quidditch robes, but let's just let this one slide. Reviews are welcomed! **


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own anything, except Ellie. **

10. Most of all, Ellie hated the fact that she didn't hate James Potter at all, in fact she loved him. She loved every part of him, from his crooked big toe to the top of his messy mop of hair. James was the one who she lost her virginity to, he was her first and only boyfriend, he was the only boy that her father actually approved of, and he was the one he was going to spend forever with. Because somewhere between all their fights, long talks, laughter and jokes she had fallen head over heels in love with James Potter.

"I swear that if you get us killed right after we graduated, I will kill you right back," Ellie threatened but James only gave her a cocky look behind his shoulder and continued tugging Ellie along to the Forbidden Forest. They had managed to slip away during the chaos of the ending ceremony. The happy couple had finally reached the outskirts of the Forest, where James let Ellie's hand fall.

"Why did we come here?" Ellie asked curiously. James stood a foot away from her; he seemed to be nervous about something and it was killing Ellie not to know what it was. "What's wrong James?" He lifted his head up to look at her, and gave her a small smile.

"I- er- well-I," Ellie rolled her eyes at his rambling.

"Just spit it out!" Ellie said, and watched in satisfaction as James finally snapped out of his nervousness.

"Alright!" He said and then did the one thing that Ellie never expected him to do. James knelt down on one knee in front of her and pulled out a red velvet box. Ellie let out an audible gasp and covered her mouth with her right hand.

"Eleanor Wood, wow it feels weird to say your real name," Ellie had to let out a laugh here, it was true. "Anyways, I know that it seems like we're too young but after everything that we've been through… Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you so much! I'm actually amazed that you would stay with me when you could have any bloke in the whole world-" James was about to ramble on when Ellie cut him off.

"I stayed with you because I realized how much I truly love you. Your annoying little quirks and the way you seem to be able to press all of my damn buttons, just for some reason makes me keep coming back to you," Ellie finished and looked down at James. Her boyfriend beamed at her and began talking again.

"I love you Ellie, and I always will. I know that we're still insanely young, but I have a plan, I promise! And whatever problems come out way, we'll figure them out! So, I guess what I'm really trying to ask you is this one simple question. It only requires one little word. Ellie, will you marry me?" Ellie was speechless. Once again James had rendered her unable to speak, but Ellie knew the answer to the question her had just asked.

"Definitely!" Ellie said enthusiastically. James' face broke out into a large grin as he stood up. James gathered Ellie into his arms and picked her up with ease. Ellie heard herself squeal with happiness. James twirled her around as a feeling of euphoria spread all over Ellie's body. She was engaged to the man she was in love with; they would have children and grow old together.

Finally when Ellie's feet had safely hit the ground James opened the velvet box he had had in his hands. He opened it slowly to reveal a gorgeous ring. It was gold with a ruby centered in the middle; she was still staring open-mouthed at the ring when James slipped it onto her ring finger.

"Thank you," Ellie whispered, finally looking up into his eyes. When her hazel eyes met his brown eyes, Ellie could've sworn she felt some kind of spark.

"How are we going to explain this to our families?" Ellie asked suddenly, brushing the spark off for now. James only shrugged, the beaming grin still plastered on his face.

"I'll run away with you Ellie, trust me, there's nothing to worry about," James said.

"You try having Oliver Wood as your father," Ellie muttered quietly and James laughed loudly.

"Your dad loves me Ellie, besides there will be a lot of sucking up during our confession meeting; so that will help our case," James reassured her and Ellie nodded. James was correct; her father loved him and never missed a chance to have a discussion with James whenever he was around. Ellie snaked her arms around James' neck and took in his smell. As he pulled her closer to him by the waist Ellie made a revelation.

"You're wearing your lucky shampoo!"

"Yeah," James said, "There's your proof Ellie," James replied. But before he could gloat anymore Ellie's lips crashed into James', meeting in a sweeping motion. They explored new regions of each other, so much so that Ellie was beginning to feel lightheaded but the last thing she wanted to do was pull away, so she continued on kissing the living daylights out of her fiancé.

**Thanks for reading! I know, I know, it was a corny ending but at 2:00 in the morning that was all that popped into my brain. Review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own a thing, except of course, Ellie. **

"Stop pranking the second years James! You're being horrible to them and you don't even know them!" Ellie told James angrily. They had just gotten back from breakfast and now had a free period. Everything had been going just fine, until he had decided to throw a toenail growing jinx at a group of second years. Currently they were sitting on the couches in the Gryffindor common room, Ellie glaring at James and him glaring at the right back at her. The common room was pretty empty at the moment and Ellie looked around wondering where Jovanna was.

"Ha! Who's the one that tripped a first year two days ago?" James rebutted and Ellie's head quickly snapped back to James. Their eyes met and Ellie noticed that James seemed to be proud of the point he raised. She narrowed her brown eyes.

"I did not trip him. He fell," she stated simply.

"Yeah, because your foot was just conveniently placed right in front of him when he fell, right El? You really need to think of better cover-ups," James said. Ellie scowled and was right about to tell him off when a distraction came in the form of Ellie's best friend Jovanna Michaels. She had obviously just come back from their dorm as she was carrying as many chocolate items as she could. James immediately caught sight of her and lifted an arm up trying to show that he wanted some chocolate.

"What're you lovebirds arguing about now?" She asked, as she threw several chocolate frogs at James' open hand. "I could almost hear you two perfectly all the way upstairs."

Ellie crossed her arms over her chest and answered. "James here," Ellie threw a glare over at her boyfriend, "says I tripped that first year on Saturday."Jovanna stared at Ellie for a couple of seconds before answering.

"Well, you did, didn't you? I mean the lad was walking right in front of you, when you stuck your shoe out," Jovanna answered smiling her glorious, toothy smile. Ellie scowled at her mate as she watched James –his face a mask of pure smugness- pump his fist with Jovanna's fist.

"Are you done yet?" Ellie growled. James looked as though he was about to answer when they were suddenly interrupted by the appearance of Jovanna's boyfriend. Isaac was tall and athletic; Jovanna seemed to like to rub in the fact that Isaac had a "hundred-pack" while James didn't. Although whenever Jovanna brought up this point Ellie found herself pointing out to Jovanna that Isaac wasn't on the Gryffindor Quidditch team while James was. When Isaac had reached them Jovanna gave him the rest of her chocolate which he stuffed into the front pocket of his hoodie.

"Hey James, hey loser," Isaac greeted Ellie the normal way they greeted each other: by insults. Ellie and Isaac had a playful relationship, it was one of the reasons Ellie approved of Isaac as a boyfriend for Jovanna. "You ready to go Vanna?"

Ellie grimaced at the sound of Jovanna's nickname that Isaac insisted on using on her. Truthfully Ellie knew that Jovanna loved having a nickname, since nobody could actually find an actual nickname for the name Jovanna.

"Yeah, I'm ready Isaac. Bye guys try not to argue anymore about Ellie's ruthless bullying ways," Jovanna joked. Jovanna gave Ellie their mandatory goodbye hug and pumped a fist with James again before walking away arm in arm with Isaac. Ellie watched Jovanna's wavy, long black hair swirling behind her as she basically pirouetted away with Isaac. Ellie turned back to face James, only to find he was stuffing his face with more chocolate.

"What?" He asked, as he tried to swallow the huge chunk of chocolate. Ellie rolled her eyes and looked at her watch.

"I still need to finish my homework, and Jovanna's!" Ellie complained when she saw the small minute hand tick closer towards the large, black number 7. James stared at her, confusion clearly obvious on his face.

"Why are you doing Jovanna's?" He asked.

"I promised her that I would do it tonight if she meets my great-great-grandmother in Hogsmeade next weekend. You see great-great-grandmother Regatta isn't exactly the most pleasant relative I have," Ellie explained, wrinkling her nose at the thought of her grandmother.

"Won't she notice that Jovanna is in your place?"

"Nah, she's blind as a bat. Plus, I hate her. She's always giving me these looks and once she whacked me so hard with her cane that I got a bruise! Anyways, I don't think that I really want to go to Hogsmeade next weekend," Ellie answered casually. James slightly frowned at her, but his face quickly turned into something of extreme arrogance.

"So, what does that mean you're going to be doing then?" He asked slowly, leaning in towards her a bit. Ellie shrugged, a smile playing at her lips, as she began to lean forwards as well. Ellie and James were now only an inch apart and she could feel James' breath tickling her lips.

"Do you have any ideas James?" She asked as seductively as she could muster. It wasn't seductive, Ellie knew it wasn't, but in her opinion it was the best she could do. Regardless, James gave her another huge grin.

"I have some ideas," he began but Ellie cut him off sharply. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him the rest of the way to her. Her lips crashed into his and she found herself become lost. Ellie could never think straight when James kissed her; it was something that greatly embarrassed her. Finally once he had pulled away Ellie had gotten her thoughts straight again.

"I was about to say, why don't we stay behind and just snog each other all day long?" Ellie asked. James gave her a lopsided smile.

"You know, I am actually quite into that idea my dear Eleanor," he said. Ellie giggled as she leant in for more.

**I really thought that I would be done with writing Hate is a Strong Word. But, I guess, that I just can't stop writing about Ellie and James' love adventures. Anyways, I might write more to this after. For now just review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own a thing.**

"James, you prat, I'm not sick!" Ellie cried for the tenth time in half-an-hour. Ellie tried to throw her bed covers off herself, but James held her down firmly. "I am perfectly fine! I don't want to miss going to Hogsmeade, James, let me go!" But even as Ellie said this, she knew that she was fighting a losing battle. Her voice was pathetically nasally and she had a high fever. James rolled his eyes at her protesting.

"Ellie just shut up already. You know, you could make all this go away with a little thing called medicine," James said mockingly referring to the bottles of that nasty stuff on her bedside table. Ellie shook her head wildly as turned to glare at the medicine.

"No bloody way James! I hate that stuff and you know it. My granddad Finn always said to let nature take its course, and that's what I am doing," Ellie said stubbornly, turning her head to look at James again. He let out a giant grin that made Ellie almost positive that his smile was bigger than his face.

He sat down on Jovanna's bed and said "Isn't he the one that went mad?"

"He didn't go mad. He just started seeing things that weren't actually there," Ellie said but James only rolled his eyes again.

"Mental," he muttered under his breath, careful not to let Ellie hear but Ellie was already on another train of thought.

"Why didn't you just go to Hogsmeade without me? I would've been perfectly alright in the hospital wing," Ellie reasoned.

"I know you hate hospitals. I remember that time when we were six and we stole our dad's brooms. Then when you fell off your broom you somehow managed to drag me down to ground with you. We both ended up in St. Mungo's but after like one minute you went screaming out of the room and down the hallways," James said, getting up off Jovanna's bed.

"Dad was so proud that I flew so well that day," Ellie said smiling fondly, "But you were the one that told me they were going to stick a needle the size of a broomstick up my arse. Ever since then I have always been afraid of needles and hospitals, because of you!"

"Yeah, well, you were afraid of everything back then. Remember when you were afraid of owls for a month?" Ellie growled at James as he reminded her.

"I was afraid of Flappers for so long. I thought he would claw my eyes out. Thanks for reminding me James," Ellie said sarcastically. James grinned widely and answered Ellie with a thumb up. He moved back over to Ellie's bedside.

"I look like shit James!" Ellie said suddenly, her voice cracking slightly. "My nose is as red as a bloody clown's nose, and my hair is really messy and all over the place. Even my feet are affected! Look!" Ellie threw her blankets off her to show off her feet, and then quickly replaced the blankets back over her feet. "Did you see how red and puffy they are?! That's not normal!"

"Yes, Ellie you're about to die from puffy foot syndrome! Oh no!" James said mockingly. Ellie crossed her arms over her chest defensively. James only laughed as he bent over Ellie and kissed her forehead tenderly.

"Move over big foot," James said after he had kissed her forehead. Ellie stared at him confusedly.

"Huh?"

"Move your pathetic self over," James repeated and except for a slight frown, Ellie moved over as far as she could. James placed himself on Ellie's bed and put his arm around her back pulling her close to him.

"You're such an idiot James," Ellie muttered into James shirt. He let out a small laugh and started stroking her back softly. It reminded Ellie of the way her father used to hold her when she was little and had had a huge problem.

"Why exactly am I such an idiot Eleanor?" James asked, and Ellie snuggled even closer into James.

"You're going to get sick now," Ellie said. Nevertheless Ellie didn't want James to leave her at all. The comfort he gave her when they were in close proximity- like they were now- was overwhelming and that was exactly the way Ellie liked it.

"Hey, it's an easy way to get out of Potions. I think I'm going to owe you if you end up getting me sick," James said, smiling easily. Ellie laughed along with him while he continued stroking her back.

"James?"

"What?"

"Don't leave me," Ellie said as quietly as she could. She knew immediately that James had heard because he tightened his arm around her.

"I promise. Just go to sleep Ellie, I need my prank tester to be healthy for tomorrow," James said. Ellie hit him half-heartedly on the top of his head which he shrugged off easily.

"I love you James-i-poo," Ellie muttered as she felt herself losing consciousness and drifting off. James grinned and kissed her temple lightly.

"I love you a thousand times more," he said. James leaned his head slightly on Ellie's and he started to feel drowsy.

Two hours later Jovanna Michaels opened the girl's dorm and noticed her best friend asleep with her boyfriend. Smirking happily she placed the candy she had bought from Honeydukes on Ellie's bedside table beside all of Ellie's untouched medicine bottles. Jovanna walked as silently as she could towards the door but as she reached the door knob a thought suddenly hit her. _ How the bloody hell did James get into the girl's dorm? _Jovanna looked back again once more. Ellie's mouth had come open again and Jovanna rolled her eyes. Her best mate looked far from beautiful when she was asleep. In their group of friends she, Jovanna, had always been the beautiful one. Ellie had always been the one with the personality. Sure, Ellie was cute. But, her dark red hair and dark brown eyes had never been anything to swoon over compared to Jovanna's striking features. At least it was this way until James came around and saw Ellie for the first _real_ time. She'd never told Ellie this, and Jovanna knew that she would never tell her at all, but Jovanna had always dreamed that _she _would be the one to have a Potter fall in love with her. Jovanna still vividly remembered the day in fourth year when Ellie had run up to Jovanna with amazing speed, out of breath as she re-told her first kiss with James. That day had also been the day that she and Ellie had gotten into their longest fight yet. It took a month, but they had finally become friends by then and by that time Ellie and James had gotten even closer, and the stories of their relationship –being told by Ellie- became more and more drawn out. That was the only reason Jovanna had agreed to go on a date with Isaac was to get over her long-lasting jealousy of her best friend. Yes, she had found a boyfriend in Isaac but whenever Ellie told her of another marvellous, romantic thing that James had done, the green-eyed monster hidden within Jovanna found itself coming out. Ellie and James had broken up a total of five times -Jovanna had counted- and each one of those times Jovanna had thought of breaking up with Isaac and asking out James, but Ellie and James always got back together and each time their love grew even more for each other. And now, Jovanna knew that it was impossible to separate them. She watched Ellie unconsciously snuggle closer to James. She watched James tighten his grasp upon Ellie as though he was protecting her from something. Jovanna was fighting a losing battle and that was why about three months ago she had given up. Ellie was her best friend and she couldn't no, she_ wouldn't_ jeopardize their friendship like that. Jovanna reached up to her face and with a jolt realized that she had let a tear leak through. Wiping it away as hastily as she could, Jovanna turned around to the doorway.

"I won't," Jovanna whispered firmly to herself as she shut the door behind her and descended down the staircase.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you all for the amazing reviews! I love it when you share your thoughts on my written work, or actually, it's typed. Anyways, just to restate the obvious: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. **

Ellie felt James' pressure on her hand grow harder as they came closer to the impending doom that was her family. They had just gotten back from having lunch together at a small restaurant, where they had agreed that it was time to tell their parents of their engagement. Ellie's confidence was wavering slightly as they came even closer to Ellie's house. It had only been a week since James had proposed and a lot of stuff had happened. James had gotten his acceptance letter into Auror training yesterday. He was leaving in two weeks and would be coming back three weeks later, after he passed his training courses. Ellie would never admit it, but she was feeling a bit insecure. The thoughts in her mind were racing every time she had a moment to relax, and each time they were the same question.

'_What if James meets some beautiful Auror woman and then decides he loves her more than me?' _Ellie knew that James loved her –hell, they were even getting married- but she couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. While James was away Ellie was beginning an internship with The Daily Prophet; she would be working under the head publisher Devon Robertson. Ellie began next week and to say she was feeling nervous was an understatement. She had cleaned her whole bedroom from top to bottom and had begun on her younger brother Patrick's room. James had found the whole thing pretty funny. He always said that cleaning was a stupid nervous habit. In Ellie's opinion it was a very stupid habit, but it wasn't like she could stop anytime soon. Ellie figured she had gotten it from her mother who was a huge control freak. Her mother loved to keep everything in order and had freak attacks when she realized something was out of place. When she had finally reached the age of eleven, Ellie was finally allowed to take care of her bedroom and the same went for her brothers.

"Let's come back next week Ellie. I mean there's no point in bothering your dad with this-"James began rambling and Ellie was tempted to agree with him for a moment. But she knew that once they backed away, they would never try again.

"James, no, we can't. Our parents deserve to know about us getting married," Ellie said, meeting James' eyes as they reached her doorstep.

"Fine, but your dad is going to rip me to shreds and feed the pieces to your mum's weird plant," he muttered and Ellie let out a small grin.

"Don't be silly James. You know that Albert only eats in juices," she said referring to the name of her mum's crazy plant. James let out a quiet moan and glanced longingly at his house next door. "I'm not going to let you run for it Jamie-poo. Trust me, I'll run after you then tackle you and drag you in," Ellie said.

"How'd you know I was thinking that?" But before Ellie could answer, her front door opened to reveal her brothers.

Jason Wood was a skinny youth. He was at the age of fourteen and quite short for his age. He had always looked up to James, which explained his haircut. It was cut to the exact shortness of James' but, try as he might; Jason could never get the sexy messy look that Ellie loved so much on James. Patrick on the other hand was his father's son. Patrick lived for Quidditch; in fact Ellie was quite sure that he made his room smell like a broomstick on purpose. He was large for a boy at the age of fifteen, and had already surpassed Ellie's height.

"James!" Jason yelled immediately, and Ellie grimaced. There was no doubt in her mind that Jason wouldn't approve of their marriage since he was basically in love with James.

"Are you two going to stand out there all day or what?" Patrick asked, a smile playing on his lips. Ellie stuck her tongue out at him as she pulled James inside, while Patrick closed the door behind them.

"So James how was the food? Did Ellie stuff her face like usual? I really like those sandwiches they have, did you try them? What's your favourite colour James? Is it red? I think it's orange, because I want to paint my bedroom orange..." Ellie let Jason ramble on as she looked at James; he looked like he was walking in a daze. Ellie took off her shoes and watched James take off his, when finally Jason's relentless talking got to her.

"Jason, shut up! You don't need to know all those facts, and I will have you know that I eat like a proper lady," Ellie snapped. Patrick snorted as he passed them, but Ellie ignored him as she was very relieved that Jason had shut up.

"Calm down," Ellie muttered to James who looked like he was about to pass out. "Jason, can you go get mum and dad? We have something to say," Jason gave them a weird look but nevertheless he ran off to fetch Oliver and Patricia.

"We'll make it through," James murmured.

"Yes, we will. James, you're the one that has enough confidence for the whole wizarding world! You are James freaking Potter, and you know what?"

"What?"

"If my parents or your parents don't like this idea, we'll do it anyways because I love you James," Ellie said passionately.

Ellie grinned satisfactorily as she watched James' face become complete confidence again. James walked into the living room where Ellie's mother was washing the windows with her wand, and humming some weird song. The living room was quite large, and in Ellie's opinion it was much too large for their family. The room was filled with pictures ranging from her parents first date (Oliver had taken Patricia out on a midnight broom ride) to the very first wobbly step Ellie had taken to Jason and Patrick's first words (moron and keeper respectively). There was a huge window to the east that showed the a beautiful field with a large tree in the middle. The tree had a treehouse built sloppily in the tops of it's branches. Their father's had built that treehouse for them. Even with magic it looked as though it was created by a three-year old but both Ellie and James didn't care. In fact, they had loved the treehouse and had spent a warm summer weekend inside it when they were nine. Ellie remembered fondly when she used to watch her father fly around on his broomstick through the giant window. The first time he had noticed her watching him he had almost flown through the window.

Ellie knew that she would miss her home when she moved out but Ellie also knew it was a pivotal part of growing up. Her family knew she was moving out, they just didn't know she was moving out to live with James.

"Oh, you two are back! Sit down! Do you want any food?"

"No thanks Mrs. Wood, we just ate," James said as he took a seat on the couch next to Ellie.

"Right, I forgot about that," Patricia mumbled to herself.

Ellie stared at her mother. _'What's up with her?' _But before Ellie could question her mother any further Jason had run into the room and grabbed the last couch seat, which was of course, next to James.

"Dad's coming in a second; he just has to lock the broom shed," Jason explained. Ellie nodded and unconsciously fingered her engagement ring that was currently residing in her sweater pocket. Her mum quickly finished up washing the windows and took a seat across from James, Ellie and Jason.

"So, James, how's your future going?" Ellie gaped at her mother's question. How could she just come out and ask such a personal question like that? But, thankfully James only laughed good-heartedly.

"I just got my letter to Auror training yesterday. My whole family seems like they are going to explode with happiness," James explained. Ellie looked at Jason and smirked.

"I think that Jason is about to explode with happiness as well," she commented slyly. Jason quickly twisted his face to look more decent and less happy. Patricia smiled serenely and brushed a auburn strand of hair away from her face.

"I bet your dad's pretty impressed with Harry being the Head Auror and all," Patricia said and James nodded.

"Yeah, but he's already said that he won't go easy on me just because I'm his son," James answered with a look of pride hinting in his facial features.

Just then they were interrupted by Ellie's father walking into the room followed by Patrick. Oliver Wood still looked like a twenty year old despite being in his thirties. With the same short brown hair and burly body, he still had millions of lady fans despite being married. Ellie had no doubt in her mind that her mother was her father's soul mate. When she watched her mum look at her dad she was reminded of the times when she and James had looked at each other. They just complimented each other: with her mother's slightly annoying tendencies and obsessions mixed in with her dad's crazy Quidditch antics. Oliver grabbed the very last seat which was a very comfy recliner. The very first thing out of Oliver's mouth was predictably about Quidditch.

"Did you see the match yesterday James?"

"Yeah! Poland crushed Canada!" James eyes immediately became flooded with the look of insane madness Ellie had seen in Oliver.

_'Dear Merlin, I'm marrying my father.'_ She thought.

"Dad, please, can you tone down the Quidditch talk? We have something to announce," Ellie said. Oliver looked over at Ellie and seemed to be inspecting her; Ellie noted that her mother was doing the exact same thing except with more subtlety.

"Well, let's hear it then Ellie!" Patrick exclaimed impatiently. Ellie shot him a dark look which clearly told him to shut it and then took a deep breath before looking at James. But before she could even let out that breath Oliver had begun shouting.

"You're pregnant! Why are you pregnant?!"

There was a very long silence in which Oliver's eyes had widened to give Ellie the impression of an owl. Her brothers seemed to be unable to find the gift of speech and her mother's mouth opened so wide that Ellie thought that she could fit a broomstick inside it.

"N-No!" James spluttered flabbergasted.

"Dad, of course I'm not pregnant!" Ellie stated a little annoyed that her father had even assumed this in the first place. Everyone's expressions changed suddenly. Her mother's mouth went back up as her brother's started laughing nervously obviously trying to laugh off the situation.

"But then what's the big news?" Oliver asked slowly, looking thoroughly confused.

"You see sir... Ellie and I are engaged," James said before Ellie could get her thoughts in order. Patrick jumped up immediately and started shaking James' hand with vigor.

"Finally you'll be getting her off our chests!" Patrick said and Ellie threw her couch pillow at him which he dodged neatly. James laughed loudly as Jason basically tackled James in celebration. But it was her parents faces which she was surprised at. Patricia ran up to the both of them a gathered them in a hug that had enough pressure to choke a troll.

"You better take care of her James. I know Ellie's a handful, but take care of her, please, she's my only little girl," Oliver said. Ellie groaned at her father's overprotective speech, but James was quite understanding.

"I know sir, trust me; I've been stuck with Ellie for years now. And- and I love her so much that sometimes it's pretty unbelievable! It's kinda like winning the Quidditch cup every single day when I'm around her," James said as he held Ellie's hand, gripping it tightly. Oliver seemed to accept James' answer since he began to shake James' free hand. Ellie thought that the Quidditch reference must've put him in a better mood.

"So, I guess you'll be carrying on the red-hair tradition then," Patricia said happily over Jason's excited mutterings to Patrick. Oliver looked back at his wife and grinned widely as he stepped back to stand beside her. James ruffled his hair and looked pleased.

"Yeah, I guess I will be carrying on the Potter curse," he said grinning at Ellie and ruffling her own red hair.

"It's not a curse! You should consider it a gift James!" Ellie threatened jokingly.

An hour later James and Ellie had finally escaped from her house. James had his arm around Ellie's waist as they stood in front of Ellie's house.

"That went very well," Ellie muttered into James' ear. "I can't believe how scared you were! Someone lost his Gryffindor bravery..." Ellie sang mockingly.

"Yeah, well, my dear Eleanor we'll just see who loses their Gryffindor bravery next because in case you hadn't noticed we are going to my house next," James answered with a slight air of arrogance.

"You know, I'm not afraid. After all after my parents your's should be a walk in the park, after all you are related to the Weasleys'," Ellie said smiling.

"Well then, let's get going! The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can begin making lots and lots of babies!" James said, pointing the way to his large house. Ellie laughed as she allowed herself to be tugged along by James towards his family.

**Finished this one now. Anyways, I was wondering who saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? I saw it with my two friends on Wednesday and they both liked it as did I. Actually, it's taken over my favorite HP movie spot which previously belonged to Prisoner of Azkaban. Daniel Radcliffe has some serious comedic chops when he was under the Felix Felicis potion. I do wish that the whole Harry/Ginny kiss could've been a bit more passionate but they might have a more passionate kiss in Deathly Hallows 1. Anyways, before I continue rambling I should probably ask you to review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, thanks again everyone. I guess you could call it obsession that I'm going to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for the fourth time. Actually two of those times I was dragged their against my will by my friends, well, that's what it felt like. Anyways, I guess this story is turning into a group of one-shots, so keep yourselves posted. :) Oh right, I don't own any of this. **

"Ellie, your going to end up scrubbing a hole into the table if you carry on," Jovanna said gently. Ellie looked up from the table she had been obsessively cleaning to give a glare at Jovanna. Ellie was currently in her wedding dress which she had picked out a month ago. It was strapless and long with a beautiful embroidery at the bottom. The necklace she had inherited from her grandmother was placed on her neck along with her mother's oldest earrings. The earrings went nicely with her red hair which was flowing down her back in slight curls that had taken her cousin Ophelia hours to finally do. The fringe of Ellie's hair was braided and pinned to the right side of her head.

"You know Jovanna, as my maid of honour, I suggest you become more supportive," Ellie said, straightening up and vanishing the cloth she had been using. Jovanna held up her palms in surrender, the bracelets around her wrists jingled around each other.

"I am supportive, I'm just saying you have nothing to be worried about! I mean you look stunning and I'm sure that if James wanted to skive on this wedding, then he would've done it already!"

Ellie threw Jovanna another scathing stare. "Thanks," Ellie said, the sarcasm dripping heavily in her voice. Jovanna laughed lightly and flitted to the window. She looked down at the people beginning to take their seats. The sun beamed down onto the ground. Ellie and James had decided to get married in his grandparents' backyard as almost every single other Weasley grandchild had done. Initially Ellie had been against it, but after about one week's persuading from James she had turned her opinion around. So now, the Weasley backyard was filled with more than one hundred white chairs. Running down the middle of the backyard was a long white carpet that Ellie was supposed to walk on. The front of the backyard contained a low podium where Ellie knew the wizard presiding over marriage services would marry them.

"Oh Ellie! You look so pretty!" Ellie turned to face her mum who had just spoken.

"Thanks," Ellie muttered as her mum enveloped her in a hug. Jovanna walked away from the window and smoothed her peach colored dress out. She along with Ellie's closest cousin Ophelia Wood and James' sister Lily would be serving as Ellie's bridesmaids. Ellie extracted herself from her mother and looked around.

"Where's Ophelia?"

"Right here! Sorry I'm late I got... distracted."

Ellie stared at her cousin's disheveled blond hair and the way she looked very flustered. "Distracted by snogging, right?"

"Yes, well, it's not my fault that Felix is such a bloody fantastic snogger is it?" Ophelia countered and Ellie rolled her eyes. "Your dad should be up here in a second. I saw him tearing up on my way upstairs. I think he ran to the bathroom though 'cause he said he poked himself in the eye by accident."

"Oliver was never very good at lying. I'm going to go check on him," Patricia said smiling. Ellie watched her mum leave before turning back to Jovanna.

"Is James out there yet?"

Jovanna looked out the window again then turned to face Ellie. "Yeah, his hair looks like some really bad experiment gone wrong though. Bloody hell, he looks really nervous. It looks like Eric is trying to calm him down."

James had decided on three groomsmen as well. Eric McLaggen, James' cousin Fred, and James' brother Al were all presiding over that -as James had called it- "honour". Suddenly Ellie's parents walked through the door again and for the first time Ellie realized how good-looking they were together. Patricia was wearing a baby blue dress with a small white hat on top of her short hair. Oliver on the other hand wore black dress robes with a blue violet in one of the button holes.

"Well, let's get this going," Oliver said and Ellie noticed his voice was unusually high. Patricia, Ophelia and Jovanna each grabbed a bouquet of violets off the small side table. Ophelia gave Ellie a small smile before leaving while both Ellie and Patricia hugged Ellie tightly. It was then that Ellie realized she was alone with her father. Oliver crossed the room in a matter of seconds and was hugging Ellie before she even saw him move.

"You have to visit. Every single day, no, every hour. And- and you better come to all my games still or else I'm going to screw up miserably without my favorite cheerleader.:

"Dad c'mon. D'you really expect me to miss any of your games? I want you to know dad that James may be my husband in a matter of minutes but you will always be my number one man." Ellie watched her father's eyes swell momentarily before she decided that she couldn't watch her strong father cry anymore. "Let's go dad."

Ellie hooked her arm with her father's as they descended down the staircase and through the back door. In front of them Fred Weasley and Jovanna had already reached the front where they stood smiling through the crowd. Eric McLaggen was grinning stupidly at Lily Potter and Ellie was for a moment regretting asking those two to become so important to the ceremony. She thought they were going to pounce on each other and begin to snog the living daylights out of each other. Ophelia and Albus Potter were the last to reach the front where they both stood in their respective places. Patricia was already sitting in the front row next to Harry and Ginny Potter. Molly Weasley was already flooding the backyard with tears. Ellie grinned at the sea of red-heads. She would fit in perfectly with her new family.

The bridal chorus started and Ellie grimaced slightly. She had argued relentlessly with her mother about this song. Finally Ellie had given up with arguing and allowed her mum to play the song. Oliver walked Ellie down slowly and Ellie watched all the heads turn to face her.

"She's a nice girl but her arms are much too long. And just look at that terrible hair. Their children will be cursed with horrible looking hair!"

Ellie heard Auntie Muriel and immediately flared up. She did _not_ have terrible hair but Ellie remembered what James' Uncle George had said that morning: _"__How the bloody hell is that woman still alive?" _and grinned.

Finally, Ellie's eyes rested on James. Ellie's first thought was the Auntie Muriel must be barking because James' hair was gorgeous. Ellie loved that it would never stay flat, she loved that his jaw was practically touching the floor but most of all Ellie loved that they were getting married. The stupid bridal chorus had finally stopped but Ellie hadn't noticed. Oliver dropped her arm and kissed her cheek before whispering in her ear so quietly that Ellie could barely hear him.

"Just not too much kissing in front of me."

Ellie grinned and took James' hand. Oliver took his seat next to Patricia and Ellie stepped up next to James where they faced each other. The whole joining part was much quicker than Ellie expected, although standing next to James did help considerably. The squat wizard finally placed his wand in the air and pronounced them bonded.

Ellie moved her face closer to James' and their lips touched. Ellie was vaguely aware of her wand letting out a flutter or red sparks out the end. Ellie heard the cheers and clapping that erupted loudly from the guests, she could hear Freddie's wolf whistles and the sound of some kind of happy music. James pulled her closer and closer until Ellie felt the urge to breathe again. Finally, they let each other go and met another round of laughter and cheers.

"Dear Merlin, it looked as though they were eating each others' faces didn't it?"

Ellie heard Auntie Muriel's voice but she found that it did not bother her as much as it used to. James lifted her up into his arms and started walking down the aisle. "You look very nice Mrs. Potter," James said beaming.

"Why thank you. I must say though you also clean up quite well Mr. Potter," Ellie answered him.

"I think you've finally surpassed my good looks El," James said and Ellie rolled her eyes.

After each of them had been passed around to family and friends about twenty times, they were finally allowed to have their first dance together as a married couple under the beautiful, sunny weather. The muggle song 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' played magically overhead somewhere as Ellie was spiraling around, laughing at James' horrible dance moves. She danced with every other person that had scooped her up for another hour or so before she was back into James' arms.

"Your dad's always been a brilliant Keeper Ellie," James said suddenly and Ellie stared at him.

"Where did that some from?"

But James only offered Ellie a small smile before continuing. "He may be a Keeper on the Quidditch pith but you are a brilliant Keeper of my heart." Ellie snorted at James' stupid joke but she played along.

"I've always played Chaser though James. So you see, I'm the Chaser of your heart and I've scored a goal."

"And with your terrible Seeker skills you still managed to catch my Snitch," James said before he lost all control and burst out laughing. Ellie joined him in his laughter, the two of them still dancing, though quite unconsciously.

"You've always sucked at those kinds of jokes," James muttered still laughing slightly.

"Speaking of sucking, it looks like your little sister isn't so little anymore..." Ellie said smiling as James caught sight of Lily kissing Eric over in the corner where they were hidden from most people's view.

"I'm going to kill McLaggen!"

Ellie grabbed James before he had the chance to whip out his wand. "Hey calm down, it looks like your about to turn into some kind of monster." Ellie said pointing out his angry face. "Besides I have something to keep your mind off it."

"What's that?"

Ellie grabbed the front of James' robes and kissed him tightly. Her brain stopped working momentarily and all that filled her senses was James. His smell, his look, his feel, his bloody amazing snogging skills. Ellie was oblivious to the other dancers around them in fact she barely registered any other part of her body except for her mouth. The only reason they had stopped kissing was when Auntie Muriel, yet again, felt the need to comment _very_ loudly on them.

"MERLIN! Would you two keep your hands off each other for ten seconds!" Auntie Muriel bellowed so loudly that her voice was probably heard miles away.

Ellie and James broke apart and watched Muriel stomp away, no doubt going to complain to some random guests. "I am going to murder her one day," Ellie muttered into James' shoulder.

"Now who's turning into a monster?" Ellie looked at James and stuck her tongue out at his "clever" little joke. They stayed like that for another minute before James interrupted their comfortable silence.

"Ellie?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm still going to _at least_ punch McLaggen."

Ellie laughed gently before kissing James' cheek lightly. "Then I get at least one hex at Muriel."

"That my dear wife, sounds like a deal," James compensated happily. Ellie laughed before James' lips overtook her's yet again and she was lost in her fascination of everything that was James Potter.

**Oh dear Muriel don't we all love your terrible personality. I really do like the McLaggen love thing with Lily, it should be a nasty shock for both Harry and Ron. I would be cackling evilly here, but it's too late at night. Next part will probably be James and Ellie seeing off their children for Hogwarts or something along those lines. I am planning to include some more of their school days since those seem to be the most fun right? Anyways, it's that time again. Review if you please! :) **


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks again everyone. :) Alright so, I decided to go back to their schooldays again. I really love writing about Ellie and James' days during Hogwarts so I might just stick with those for now. There will be some Lily/Eric McLaggen coming up as well. I think the actor that played Cormac McLaggen in the sixth Harry Potter movie got me to actually enjoy Cormac's character as rude as he is. Thank you J.K Rowling for creating characters that we all hate but deep deep down we truly love well, except Umbridge whom I still hate. Again, I do not own a thing except Ellie. **

The weather was dreary and wet once Ellie had finally made it out of the castle, with James at her side. They were on their way to Hogsmeade and Ellie couldn't be any more excited. Most of the other students had decided against going to Hogsmeade due to the weather but Ellie was different. She loved the rain, she loved playing in it, dancing it in, well, she just loved it.

"Ellie are you sure you want to go running around in the rain?" James' protests had followed her all morning but she had remained adament to keep to her plans.

"Yes Jamie-poo, I'm more sure of this than I was of your good looks," Ellie said and watched James' face turn into a stupid grin. She laughed and grasped James' hand tightly in her's and pulled James down the path that led into the small village. The rain pounded down on them but Ellie took it all in. The smell of rain always made Ellie feel happy although Ellie could never figure out what rain smelt like. James thought she was a lunatic when she talked this way, but Ellie didn't care.

"Where do you want to go first. I just want to get out of this bloody rain," James said bitterly. Ellie dropped his hand and looked around.

"I need a new pack of quills. Then how about a butterbeer, or in my case, pumpkin juice."

James agreed completely and they headed for Scrivenshafts. Ellie grabbed a random pack of quills and quickly went to the register. After handing over ten galleons and one sickle, she and James found themselves inside The Three Broomsticks. It was moderately full most likely because the people who had braved the rain had decided to stay warm and dry.

"Go find a table, and I'll go get our drinks."

Ellie narrowed her eyes at James as his face arranged itself to look innocent. "What?"

"You just want to go flirt with Yelena Rosmerta over there," Ellie hissed and James smirked. Ellie looked behind James' shoulder to look at Yelena. She wore a short skirt with glittering heels, and as Ellie noticed with anger: a very purple tight tank top.

"You have nothing to worry about Ellie, besides you know how much I loved redheads," James said, ruffling his hair as his brown eyes danced in glee.

"Yeah, okay, but don't take too long because I'm already running through hexes in my mind," Ellie threatened, fingering her wand. James laughed before giving her a sloppy kiss on the top of her head and then walked over to get their drinks.

Ellie watched him go for a couple of seconds then decided against following him, instead she found them a table and sat down roughly. She knew that James would never cheat on her but she had some insecure thoughts deep down. Ellie took off her jacket and placed it over her chair and looked around. The back of Jovanna's head was just visible over Isaac's body. They were entwined in such a weird position that Ellie had trouble discerning who's body part was who's.

"I was thinking of getting a Firewhisky, but I knew you'd probably chuck it out a window or something," James' voice alerted Ellie to his presence. He sat down heavily and slammed a bottle of pumpkin juice down in front of her.

"I don't fancy taking you back to the castle drunk."

James shrugged and took a generous swig of his butterbeer. Ellie stared at James and grinned. He looked so handsome at the moment, what with his auburn hair ruffled up and slightly still wet from the rain and the way his face held so much easy confidence. James looked back at her and smiled his glittering smile.

"Admiring my beauty?"

"Moron," Ellie muttered but nevertheless allowed a large grin to form on her face. She finished off the rest of her pumpkin juice and then waited until James was done his drink. "What do you want to do now? We've still got two hours before we must be back at school."

"Wanna go torment the couples in Madame Puddifoots?" James suggested.

"Nah, but we did that last time we were in there. I think that they might start to get on to us," Ellie answered.

"Not unless we use the Invisibility Cloak," James pointed out and Ellie grimaced.

"You've rubbed that stupid cloak in my face for over four years now, I really wish you would shut up about it."

"You set yourself up that time though. Anyways, you know how useful it is. It's gotten us and Freddie out of a lot of tight spots anyways."

"Yeah, yeah. Freddie always takes the chance to tell me about your trouble making and he always makes it sound as though I'm insulting you guys or something when I say I don't want to be a part of it."

"Well you are Ellie, after all you are our third mooseketer or whatever it is," James said, leaning back in his chair to watch Ellie carefully.

"There were four of them James, four. And they were called musketeers not mooseketer," Ellie corrected. James had never been good at remembering historical muggle names.

"Then we'll let Pineapple be our fourth."

Ellie scoffed. "My owl James? You're letting my owl be our last partner?"

"His job is to deliver the letters," James explained now grinning. Ellie realized that James was only kidding around with her, but instead of starting an argument she changed the subject.

"Where's Fred today?"

"Wherever he wants to be I suppose," James answered her and Ellie scowled. She knew that James knew where Fred was, Ellie could see it in his face that he was hiding Fred's whereabouts.

"Oh James c'mon tell me where he is! I promise not to tell anyone. I'm supposed to be part of your group!" Ellie whined and James rolled his eyes but nevertheless put his head closer to Ellie's.

"Fred is in..." James started in a dead whisper and Ellie leaned her head so close to James that their foreheads were almost touching. "Hogsmeade."

Ellie whipped her head away from James' and gave him her very best death glare. "You idiot! I already figured that one out for myself!" Ellie yelled so loudly that people stared at them and even Jovanna disentangled herself from Isaac to look at them. "Let's get out of here so I can yell at you properly," Ellie hissed, standing up and grabbing James' arm in a death grip.

"I'm fine right here Ellie, don't worry!" But Ellie was already steering him out The Three Broomsticks. The rain had not let up, in fact, it seemed to be hitting the ground faster and harder than before. Ellie let go of James' arm as soon as they had reached the cobbled road, where she turned to him.

"Before you yell at me I want you to know that Fred really is in Hosmeade and I really was answering your question. Ellie, you asked where he was and I said exactly where he was. And I actually- mmph."

The rest of James' words were muffled due to Ellie's mouth covering James'. She was in his arms before James had even taken notice. The rain hit their backs and yet both of them were oblivious to anything but each other. James' hands entangled themselves in Ellie's red hair while Ellie's hands knotted themselves in James' hair. But it was over much too soon in Ellie's opinion. James set her down tenderly on the ground but still didn't release Ellie. Both of them were drenched from head to foot. Ellie rested her forehead on James' forehead and the stayed in comfortable silence listening to the pounding rain.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" James asked suddenly and Ellie smirked.

"That, James, was for being you."

"But Ellie, I'm myself all the time so I believe that means that I should deserve more of these attacks," James stated matter-of-factly and Ellie smirked. Ellie took his hand and they began the trek back to the castle.

"I mean you told me the truth and stayed loyal to whatever you and Fred are cooking up."

James looked confused before he asked, "So this was all a test huh?"

"Not really, I kinda cooked it up ten seconds after you said 'Hogsmeade'. I guess I just wanted to snog you in the rain," Ellie said, her eyes alight.

"If exams were like your tests than I wouldn't hesitate to study," James muttered and Ellie laughed.

"James, would you really want Hagrid to snog you just for passing your Care of Magical Creatures exam?" Ellie asked slyly and James mimed vomiting for a second.

"No thanks. I'd much rather we keep our snogging to each other, please," James said in a slightly pleading voice.

"You've got it Jamie-poo, you've got it."

Ellie and James ran the rest of the way up to Hogwarts where Ellie quickly dried them off with one of her as James put it "nerd charms". From there on they spent the rest of the day in the a small closet up on the fifth floor where they remained for the rest of the day.

**Well, I'll leave what Ellie and James were doing in a broom closet to speculation. :) And, oh I forgot to put in Lily/Eric McLaggen like I said. I guess I'll leave that to a later story where there is more snogging and less talking. Some of my friends keep trying to tell me that James Sirius Potter should've been paired up with one of Neville's children. I think that that's all well and stuff but I just can't see James with a Longbottom, maybe Albus but not James. I don't know if I am just messed up that way, but seriously James belongs with a Wood. Where he and Ellie can play Quidditch then snog then joke around, then snog, then some more snogging... well you get the picture. So like always, make my days and nights and review my friendly readers. ;)**

**Wait, I have to add that I'll probably be starting on some other fanfics soon as well so updating might be kinda slow. But bear with me please because I will end up updating at least once a week. :) Again, review. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, okay so I've made the choice to focus on this story for now since it's too hard to start a new one with this one still in my head. This is the longest chapter yet so it was quite fun to write! Anyways, you'll meet the daughter of a familiar and annoying character in this chapter. Without further ado, keep looking down and read. ;) And, yes, like always thanks again. **

It was a clear, early morning fall day when Ellie looked up at the ceiling in the Great Hall. The sky was clear enough for perfect Quidditch conditions and Ellie knew that she had to get outside soon. Ellie grabbed a seat next to James and Fred where they were clearly plotting something since their heads were put tightly together and it looked as though they were whispering. James jolted when she had down next to him but immediately calmed down when he noticed it was only her.

"Why g'morning Eleanor!" Fred shouted cheerfully and Ellie gave him a glare.

"I'm not doing it," she said stupidly. James and Fred looked insulted when they exchanged a stare. Ellie pulled a bowl of porridge towards herself and began eating.

"What makes you think we were doing something?"

"You have that look on your face, you know, the look that says 'I'm-about-to-pull-something-awesome-and-we-need-Ellie-for-something' look," Ellie said pointing her spoon at Fred's face.

"Okay, okay so we're planning something of a surprise for our dear friends over there," Fred said pointing his head at the direction of a group of Ravenclaws. "And we want you to join us as long as you put that spoon down."

"No."

"Oh Ellie! Come _on_,Keiko Roberts is in that group and we all know how much you hate her," James whined and Fred nodded vigorously beside him. Ellie looked back at the Ravenclaws again. Keiko Roberts was in the middle of the huddle with all the other Ravenclaw blokes surrounding her. She was also part of the James Potter fanclub that Ellie hated so much. Even as Ellie only watched she was suddenly overtaken with an urge to make Keiko's face swell to the size of a blimp, only because Keiko laughed so _prettily_ that it was contagious.

"Alright I'm in," Ellie said grudgingly and James gave a cheer. He kissed her quickly on the lips before giving Fred a high-five. "What's the plan?"

James looked around obviously checking for eavesdroppers but once he noticed there was nobody watching them he moved closer to Ellie. "Where's Joe-Vanna?"

"Jovanna? She's somewhere in the common room, I remember her saying something about finishing a Charms essay. And I wouldn't let her hear you say that she's in a nark this morning."

"Good, whenever she's in a bad mood she never comes down to breakfast. Alright so what we need you to do is sneak into the Ravenclaw common room where we can put everything in place," James explained very fast and Ellie blinked. Fred seemed to notice her blank face and began to wave his hand in front of Ellie's face.

"James, mate, I think your girl just died."

"But that's impossible! You don't even know where the Ravenclaw common room _is_," Ellie said angrily as she swiped Fred's hand away from her face.

"Ah, ah, ah _you_ don't know where the Ravenclaw's live but _we_ do," James said.

"How the hell do you know that?"

"We have our methods, besides you'll be going up there with James," Fred said simply and whacked James friendlily on the back.

"That's right, we'll be together forever," James replied smarmily cuddling up to Ellie. She pushed him off her and stood up leaving her porridge on the table.

"What're you going to do?" Ellie asked Fred and he smiled sneakily.

"I have my own thing to do. You and James should be going right now the Ravenclaw's usually all leave for breakfast at the same time and I seriously doubt that any of them stayed behind to finish homework," Fred said as he stood up as well and James followed suit. "Do you have everything?"

"Yep, and you have the map right?" James asked and Fred nodded. Ellie stared at them both, they always talked about some kind of _map _that allowed them to never be caught but she had never been told what exactly it was. In fact all she knew was that James had nicked the map from his father's study.

"Okay let's go," Fred said and he started off walking off for the Entrance Hall but before leaving completely he turned around and called, "Hey James! Try not to snog her for too long!" Fred then winked and kept on walking away. James turned to her and waggled in eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut up," Ellie told him firmly.

Together they left the Great Hall holding hands when James suddenly opened a random door and shoved Ellie inside roughly. She hit the wall of the broom closet and glared at James, rubbing the back of her head.

"Ouch! What is your bloody _problem_ James?" She hissed angrily, getting her wand out of her pocket and pointing it at James' face. James ignored her until he had shut the door properly.

"Put the wand down Wood, we all know you don't have the guts."

"Oh yeah? Want to try it?"

But before she could hit him with anything James had wrestled her wand out of her hand and was now holding it tightly behind his back. Ellie tried reaching for it but James kept it firmly away from her hands.

"James! Give it back, I demand it back!"

"Ellie, shut up I need to fill you in on the rest of the plan!"

"No, I want my wand first-" but the rest of Ellie's sentence was silenced with James' use of the silencing charm. Ellie's mouth moved up and down but no sound came out of it.

"What's that Ellie?" James mocked her jokingly and Ellie started slapping at every part of his body she could get at. "Ow, ow, Ellie listen please!" Since his voice was so desperate Ellie stopped but crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "I should've immobilized you instead," James muttered to himself and Ellie hit him again.

"I need to get us under the Invisibility Cloak or else our whole operation is done, d'you understand now why I shoved you in here?" James explained slowly as though to a four-year old and Ellie nodded. "Alright, try not to turn in Volcano Ellie when I give back your wand."

James undid the charm and handed Ellie her wand back. She took it with extra vigor but even to Ellie's surprise she didn't curse James instead she only muttered profanities about him under her breath. James rolled his eyes and pulled out the cloak from under his shirt.

"You were hiding it under there the whole time!?" Ellie cried incredulously.

"Yep, you got a problem with that?" James asked, grinning as though he did this everyday. Ellie shook her head as James threw the Invisibility Cloak over their heads. Ellie had been under the cloak a total of three times now, and it was always such a curious experience. Together Ellie and James made it through all of James' crazy shortcuts and they managed to reach the Ravenclaw common room in six minutes. Ellie stared at the door, it was completely blank save for a bronze door knocker in the shape of an eagle.

"What do we do?" Ellie whispered. She had no idea why she was whispering since there was nobody around but the atmosphere and secrecy made her feel as though she needed to. James reached out and grabbed the door knocker which them began to speak from the eagle's mouth in a sing-song way.

"The thunder comes before the lightening; the lightening comes before the clouds. The rain dries everything it touches."

"We're supposed to answer a bloody riddle!?" Ellie cried as the door blinked at her.

Ellie looked at James who gave her a look that clearly said 'I'm-thinking-so-don't-talk'. Finally James said in another sing-song voice that greatly annoyed Ellie.

"A volcano."

"Very good!" The knocker answered back and the door opened to reveal the empty common room. Ellie and James slipped inside where James started to laugh.

"What?" Ellie asked.

"I thought that you would've gotten that after all you are a volcano yourself," James said wrapping an arm around Ellie's shoulders.

"I hate riddles," Ellie mumbled and James chuckled.

"Now, we have to get to the dormitories. I think we should do the boy's first. I've been looking forward to getting Derek Davies and his mates ever since he gave you the once over last month in Ancient Runes," James said scathingly and Ellie smiled.

"Your so chivalrous Jamie-poo," Ellie teased lightly as they walked over to what they hoped was the boys' dormitory. James kept the cloak on them for the whole time as they went up the stairs and entered the sixth year boy's room. It was scarily clean and organized. There wasn't a hair out of place on any of the five beds. Ellie turned to look at James when he took the cloak off them again and placed it back under his shirt. Next, Ellie watched him pull out a small bag of what Ellie realized to be Itching Balls. They were small white spheres that made you feel itchy for at least a week. James quietly rolled out three each on every one of the beds. The spheres immediately flattened and camouflaged themselves to look like the bed sheets.

"Is that all you were planning to do?" Ellie asked, smirking slightly at the terrible prank.

"Ellie have some faith in me!" Ellie heard James say an incantaion and then he swept his wand over the entire room. A bright flash of orange light greeted them before disappearing as soon as it had come.

"James that's going to really make the lot of them angry."

"Yeah, but it will be funny since the next person to sleep in this bed will have the unfortunate circumstance to have a rain cloud follow the around everywhere they go," James said and he took Ellie's hand while they ran down the stairs and found themselves in front of the stairs that led to the girls' dormitories. "I can't go up there I only know how to get into the Gryffindor girl's dorms not Ravenclaw, so you have to go alone."

"But, I don't know which bed is Keiko's!" Ellie said and James smiled.

"I've got that figured out as well! I overheard her telling her friends that she's got a picture of me on her bedside table so finding my beautiful face shouldn't be hard to find," James said his face glowing. Ellie smacked him jokingly and made to grab the cloak from under James' shirt until he moved away quickly from her.

"I need the cloak James."

"No you don't, I need it more. What if some Ravenclaw's come in and see me standing here!" Ellie couldn't argue with his logic so she grabbed the bag of Itching Balls and tromped up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. It was even neater than the boy's dorm and Ellie noticed Keiko's bed almost instantly. It indeed had James' picture-it was a portrait picture in which he was blinking and grinning cheerily- but not on the bedside table but on her pillow.

"Bloody hell does she sleep with _my_ boyfriend's picture?!" Ellie whispered and she felt her fury building.

Ellie looked inside the Itching Balls bag and noticed there were at least six left in it. Grinning wickedly she placed all of them down on Keiko's bed and watched them transform and camouflage. Ellie pointed her wand at only Keiko's bed and whispered the incantation that she heard James say and saw to her satisfaction, the same bright orange light. Before leaving she took James' picture into her hand and clenched it tightly.

"Let's see how you like this _Keiko Roberts_."

Taking her wand Ellie intricately drew a black moustache on James' face and gave him a pointy beard. Replacing the picture on Keiko's bed Ellie skipped down the stairs where she didn't see James. When she had finally reached the end of the staircase Ellie felt something attack her.

"James get off me you prat!" Ellie yelled, but she was laughing as James released her grinning broadly.

"We need to get out of here soon, I can hear people," James said and he was correct as Ellie could also hear talking behind the stupid riddle door. James pulled Ellie underneath his cloak and the two of them went to stand next to the door. Their breathing matched each other and Ellie realized what a perfect moment it was to begin snogging him but she managed to contain herself. James smirked when he noticed her looking at him.

"Later," he whispered very quietly.

The door opened at that moment and a flood of second-year boys came through. Once the last boy had got out of the hall Ellie and James took their chance and slipped out of the Ravenclaw common room. The couple didn't talk the whole way until they had reached the safety of the Entrance Hall where James slipped the Invisibility Cloak off and stuffed it under his shirt again. Ellie jumped into James' arms and laughed.

"That was so much fun! Keiko Roberts is about to get a _very_ special surprise!" Ellie said her face a mask of pure happiness. James twirled her around in the air.

"How about some celebratory snogging before we go meet Fred?" James asked and Ellie couldn't help but agree.

"I would never be able to resist James. Let's go outside though, I really want to see the weather first hand," Ellie said and James nodded. Ten minutes later Ellie Wood and James Potter were snogging profusely behind Greenhouse 3 without a care in the world. James lips disconnected themselves from Ellie's and he muttered, "Tomorrow we should skive off History of Magic and do something more useful." Ellie giggled and kissed James again before pulling away.

"You mean something like this?"

"Yeah, unless you and your prefect duties will make you not want to do this?" James asked and Ellie smiled. He knew perfectly well that her prefect duties had still never managed to get in the way of her snogging abilities.

"Nah, I don't think they will. But you Mr. Quidditch Captain might have some training session planned for us," Ellie countered and it was James' turn to grin.

"I would cancel it in a second," James' mouth worked it's way to Ellie and she parted her lips allowing him easy access.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Both of them were more energized and excited than usual the next morning. Jovanna kept throwing Ellie knowing looks that Ellie avoided as well as she could. Fred on the other hand, seemed to know about everything since he came over to the table the next morning with a bright look on his face and slapped James on the back.

"Maybe Binns wants to join in with you two later today, you should inform him," Fred said smartly and Ellie threw a muffin at him. He caught it easily and took a bite out of it before spitting it out and throwing it back at Ellie. "Ew, Ellie, I hate cranberry don't you at least have the decency to throw me a chocolate one?"

Suddenly James' loud laughter interrupted Ellie telling off Fred. James had noticed Derek Davies and his cronies had just walked into the Hall, each one of them was scratching themselves and had a grey rain cloud thundering over top of their heads. Each table broke out into laughter, even the Ravenclaw's who hadn't been pranked were snickering. It was then that Keiko ran into the Hall, she had rashes over her arms and face and looked as though she would tear her hair out. The rain cloud above her head was started to drizzle rain as she rushed towards the table where the teachers sat.

"Professor Taylor, help me! Someone tampered with my pictures! They gave my future husband a moustache and beard!" Keiko shrieked. Ellie was beginning to feel some remorse until she heard Keiko utter the word 'husband' and suddenly the regret vanished. Professor Taylor was a young witch. She looked to be about thirty, was Head of Ravenclaw and taught Charms, Ellie's favorite class.

"Alright Roberts come here I'll fix how you look. Davies bring yourself over as well and the other boys!" Professor Taylor called over to the Ravenclaw table where they currently sat. She vanished the clouds quickly but was unable to vanish their itchiness and rashes because the Itching Balls went away on their own accord.

"And my picture?" Keiko asked, sniffling. Ellie grimaced and grabbed James' arm almost possessively, she could've sworn Keiko's eyes had darted towards her.

"Well, let's go see it. And boys, just go sit down I'm sure the itchiness will tone down soon."

Keiko led the way out of the Great Hall with Professor Taylor in her wake. The Ravenclaw blokes sat down and immediately started swallowing everything in their wake. Ellie let go of James' arm now that she thought it was safe, he gave her a weird look but didn't press questions. Jovanna leaned close to Ellie.

"You did it didn't you?"

"I had to, they're all evil, the lot of them," Ellie justified. Jovanna rolled her eyes and went back to reading _Witch Weekly. _Their first period of the day was History of Magic which was, of course, the most hated subject of the century. But today Ellie was looking forward to it, she couldn't wait to skip it and spend the period with James. They were the first ones to leave, and once they got up off the bench Fred came over and slapped them both on the shoulder and called: "Happy snogging day!"

While Jovanna pointedly ignored them both since she was so enraptured with the article called _'How to Make Your Hair Have Bounce- In ONE Spell!_' Ellie and James gripped hands as they walked down to the greenhouses again. James smiled at her as they had Greenhouse 3 in sight.

"You know what I think about when I'm kissing you?" He asked so suddenly that Ellie was confused.

"What?"

"I think about the way you smell: like pumpkin juice and chocolate and how your hair always smells like apricots and- BLOODY HELL LILY!" Ellie stared at her boyfriend.

"You think about your little sister?" She asked but James was speechless and he only pointed. Ellie couldn't believe she hadn't noticed little Lily Potter snogging Eric McLaggen against the wall of Greenhouse 3. Lily had broken away from Eric, and they were both wearing shocked looks on their faces but that was nothing compared to James' facial expression. He had gone through a range of five emotions at once: livid, guilt, surprise, amusement and disgust. But he had finally settled on anger. Lily quickly tried to smooth things over.

"James what're you doing- it's not what it- wait, what are _you_ doing?!"

"That doesn't matter! What matters is what I am about to do to McLaggen here," James said and Ellie knew that he was about to follow through with his threat so she held his arm tight against her body. Eric looked as though he had a strong urge to run but before he could act on that urge Lily had stepped in between them.

"No you won't James, because I know that you were coming here to snog Ellie. If you tell anyone about Eric and I here then I will tell everyone that you and Ellie skipped class too," Lily said forcefully and Ellie was surprised to hear this coming from her.

"I can't though, you're my little sister! And- and your too young!"

"James, just shut up. Leave Lily alone," Ellie said angrily. Ellie knew first hand what it felt like to be a thirteen year old girl. Lily gave her a grateful look before taking Eric's hand and they began walking away but James stopped them.

"McLaggen if I hear that you are doing anything to my little sister I'll kill you," James said confidently and Ellie kept her grip tight on his arm. Lily rolled her eyes but Eric nodded. As they were walking away Ellie heard Lily whisper to Eric, "He's all talk don't worry."

"I'm not all talk!" James called after them brandishing a fist before turning to face Ellie who had finally let go of his arm. "Can you belive she's blackmailing me?"

Ellie shrugged, "James, you have to leave them alone sometimes. I'm sure Lily can take very good care of herself. Anyways it's not that I want to think of, it's you and me and our snogging spot."

"Actually it's not our's anymore since we were invaded by Lily and McLaggen," James said bitterly and Ellie laughed.

"Then let's try and get it back," Ellie said smiling and she was very happy when James agreed. Ellie had been afraid that his thoughts would have strayed to Lily and Eric again but she was wrong. James pinned her against the Greenhouse again and their limbs became entangled together in a fury of love and passion. James pulled her tightly against his body where Ellie always felt comfortable and Ellie tightened herself against James as well. They were just about to get to even more passionate snogging when they heard a throat clearing. Breaking apart Ellie noticed what had made the noise. There standing in front of them was none other than Professor Longbottom. He looked to be torn between laughing or yelling so he compromised in greeting them.

"Good morning Mr. Potter, Miss. Wood."

"Hello sir," Ellie muttered, she could feel heat creeping up her neck to her cheeks. James laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, professor it was nice seeing you but we wouldn't want to interrupt whatever you were doing so we'll be going now..." James said as he started to walk away but they immediately stopped in their tracks.

"Oh no, you weren't interrupting anything actually it's me who feels as though he was interrupting something. Speaking of which shouldn't you two be in class now?" Professor Longbottom seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Well sir, you see-"

"History of Magic-"

"That's what I thought. I'll let you both off with a warning but I'll be writing to your parents as well, so don't think you're off the hook. Now get to class, Binns isn't that boring," Professor Longbottom said sternly, but he gave them a small smile as he watched James and Ellie hurry away.

"Dad won't be very happy," Ellie muttered to James as they hurried inside. James' face paled slightly but he carried on.

"Yeah, my parents won't be too chuffed either. Do you seriously want to go to class?" James asked as they slowed down once they had reached the Entrance Hall.

"No, I'd rather eat a Flobberworm. Let's just go do something else," Ellie suggested watching James' expression change to excitement.

"You mean like punch McLaggen for touching my sister?"

"No you moron. I meant like finishing what we started _without_ any interruptions this time," Ellie said. James looked as though he was considering it for a moment before placing a sloppy kiss on Ellie's cheek and taking her hand. They barreled up the stairs two at a time and by the time they reached the Fat Lady they were breathless.

"Pheonix feather," Ellie breathed at the Fat Lady.

"Yes, yes, keep your knickers on," the Fat Lady said impatiently and swung open. Ellie and James were through the doorway in a matter of seconds and were already inside the boys' dorm once the portrait had swung closed. Ellie's breathing quickened and her heart beat seemed to be louder than usual. They were laying on James' bed where he was on top of her. Ellie brought James' body down to her's so that she could feel his chest rise and fall. James lips seemed to be working better than usual because Ellie heard herself let out the occasional moan of pleasure. Suddenly James had hitched her legs up around his waist. Ellie stopped moving and became rigid, James had seemed to notice because he stopped and looked at her.

"What is it?"

"I-I James I want to wait," Ellie had no idea where those words came from but she knew they were the right ones.

"Wait? Wait for what?" James asked, his face was totally confused.

"Wait to have sex James that's what I mean!" Ellie explained. James put Ellie's legs down and he sat back on the edge of his bed. Ellie moved to sit beside him. "I want to wait, at least until we're out of Hogwarts. I want my first time to be special James, special!"

"I understand Ellie, don't worry."

Ellie smiled and hugged James tightly, "I have no doubt in my mind that you'll be my first time James don't worry. You're my Jamie-poo after all," Ellie said and she watched James face grin widely.

"Unless Keiko Roberts steals me away from you."

"She wouldn't dare because everyone knows I'm the only one that snogs to your ability," Ellie joked and James laughed.

"Is that a compliment or an insult?" James asked.

"A compliment my dim-witted man," Ellie said fondly and James laughed again as Ellie maneuvered James back onto the bed. She checked her watch and smiled.

"We have twenty free minutes before Transfiguration, and I have a good idea what we want to fill it up with."

"I thought you wanted to wait?"

"I do, but that doesn't mean that I can't snog during every waking moment does it?" Ellie asked and James shrugged.

"I like your logic," James replied as took Ellie's chin in his hand and brought her lips down to meet his.

James and Ellie were both late for Transfiguration by five minutes but neither of them cared, at least until the next morning, when each of them received a very unpleasant letter from their parents.

**To all of those who guesses Keiko Roberts is Cho Chang's daughter, congratulations. J.K Rowling said that Cho married a muggle so, I guess that the child would still be magical right? I was very happy to put in some Lily/Eric McLaggen so that made my day too. Well, I'm going to sound off like I always do: REVIEW. :) **


	10. Chapter 10

**I know this one took so long to write! I've just been way busy! I went to a concert with my friends and it started to pound with rain everywhere, and since the concert was outside we were soaked by the time we made it back home. The next day I had my little brother and sister's birthdays to live through. They're twins in grade four, and their friends can get greatly annoying even though I am quite fond of them. :) It rained on their birthday. We were going to go swimming in our pool but things don't work out right so we had about twenty fourth-graders running around our house, yelling and screaming and laughing. Yep, it wasn't an ideal writing situation so I had to postpone this chapter. Canada seems to be getting more and more rain now. It's raining as I write right now with a cup of green tea beside me and my little sister's war cries sounding off around me. Anyways, lets focus on the positive: chapter ten is now up. :) **

The distance between Ellie's window and James' window was quite short and it took Ellie only a minute to reach James' window on her broomstick. The light of the moon hit her face as she watched James grin from his window. He opened the window and Ellie stopped in mid-air on her broom, looking back at her own house. There really was no point in looking back since she knew that her parents were both gone to a Ministry dinner (her mother worked for the Herbologist department). Patrick on the other hand was out gallivanting with his girlfriend Jenny Conway while Jason was snoring away already at eight o'clock.

"What took you so long?" James hissed from the window and Ellie looked back at him. She moved her broom forward until she was directly in front of James' window.

"I had to wait for Jason to fall asleep."

"Why? It's not like he could stop you."

"I know, but he'd want to come along," Ellie explained and James smiled. Ellie maneuvered herself onto James' window sill and he grabbed her broom. Ellie bent down and jumped onto James' bedroom floor as James tugged her broom through the window. He dropped it on the floor lightly and Ellie took a look around his room. It had changed since the last time she had been inside it which had been about two weeks ago. James' bedroom was large and roomy. He had a huge bed that Ellie knew, for a fact, he took up completely with his horrible sleeping positions. It contained several Quidditch posters (Puddlemere United, Moose Jaw Meteorites, Chudley Cannons, Holyhead Harpies and Grodzisk Goblins) and various Gryffindor keepsakes. When Ellie looked closer she noticed a picture of she and James in their fifth year on his wall beside the window. The picture was beside the Black Lake where James had taken her for her birthday picnic. It was taken just before the Giant Squid had taken the liberty of creating a tidal wave that headed straight for James and Ellie.

"I've always hated that squid."

James laughed as he inspected the picture closely. "I'll always remember that day. You were soaked when we reached the castle! Luckily I remembered the drying spell."

"Yeah, well, I just forgot," Ellie replied smiling as she gathered James in a tight hug.

"Oh my dear Ellie, it's not that hard to remember: _arefacio_," James teased. He released himself from his girlfriend's hug and reached for his bedside table. "I've got something for you."

"James, I don't know if you have somehow gone mental or something but it's your birthday tomorrow, not mine," Ellie said but she was excited nonetheless to recieve a gift. James rolled his eyes while he opened the top most drawer, pulled something out and shut the drawer again. James turned around and thrust a small, velvet bag into Ellie's hand. She undid the drawstrings on it and pulled out a gold bracelet.

"James..." Ellie started but James held up his hand to silence her, he looked somewhat embarrassed.

"It's got six charms on it. They all mean something to the both of us, see look." James pointed to the small objects that were hanging and Ellie looked at each of them, one by one.

There was a brown Quaffle that Ellie knew was there because they both played Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. A jug of pumpkin juice was next and Ellie grinned at this because she knew how much James preferred butterbeer to pumpkin juice.

"I knew that you have that weird obsession with rain so I put that," he held a raindrop charm up to Ellie's face, "on it as well."

The raindrop was a pretty blue color in a tear drop shape. Ellie could feel her eyes burning but she willed herself to hold onto the decency of not crying. The next charm that Ellie looked at was a silver number four. Both Ellie and James were born on the fourth, but in separate months (November and July respectively). Ellie stared at the next charm and a whole hoard of memories hit her.

"Oranges are your favorite fruit right?" James asked and Ellie laughed.

"Yeah, all thanks to you James. The smell of them always makes me cheerful," Ellie answered as she passed the orange charm and looked at the last charm.

The very last charm was a heart, in locket form. Ellie opened it up slowly and the picture inside it showed she and James when they were seven years old. They were sitting up in their tree-house where James had been telling Ellie a joke that caused her throw her head back laughing.

"I still remember that joke," Ellie said and James grinned fondly. Ellie shut the locket but still held the bracelet tightly in her hand.

"So do I. What do you get when you cross a rooster and a duck?" James asked.

"A bird who gets up at the _quack_ of dawn." Ellie answered automatically. The joke was so bad that Ellie felt the need to cringe but it had been hilarious when she was seven.

"That was such a stupid joke," James said but he was laughing along with Ellie. "I never actually expected you to laugh that hard."

"You've always had a weird way of making me feel happy," Ellie said, looking down at the bracelet still clutched in her hands. "Will you put it on for me?"

James nodded and took the gold jewelry out of Ellie's hand. He placed it over her wrist and clasped the two ends together with a small _click_. "You gotta promise me something though, alright Ellie?"

Ellie was momentarily startled by the forcefulness in James' voice as he asked her that question but she nodded nonetheless. "Anything," she whispered.

"Only wear it when we're alone 'kay?"

"What the hell? Why can't I wear it any day I want?" Ellie asked angrily. She had no idea why she felt so infuriated with James' demand, but Ellie knew that it was right to feel this way. Ellie hadn't witnessed a moment longer than five minutes in which James hadn't made some kind of witty remark or cracked a joke.

"Because it becomes invisible when we're around other people."

James' reason startled Ellie for a moment before she smiled. "That makes sense," Ellie said and James laughed.

"Yeah, of course it does. Everything I say makes sense Ellie, I thought you already knew that," James said arrogantly and Ellie jumped into his arms. James caught her easily and wrapped his arms around her waist tightly.

"There we go. I was wondering when my James would come back," Ellie muttered into James' soft, grey sweater.

"Your James?"

"You know. The arrogant, confident, witty James. I wasn't used to your sudden compassionate and kind side," Ellie explained and James' eyes narrowed in Ellie's direction. Ellie knew an argument was coming and she was totally ready for a comeback.

"You're not a saint either El. I mean you can be selfish, aggressive and reckless and yet I'm still in love with you," James replied easily.

"When have I ever been selfish!?" Ellie cried incredulously as she released her grasp on James' sweater and looked into his eyes but James only rolled his eyes annoyingly.

"Remember when we were out shopping for a present for Jason in Hogsmeade for his birthday?" Ellie nodded and James continued. "We found that really tasty piece of fudge in Honeydukes that we were planning to give him, but once we got back you ended up eating the fudge for yourself. We had to sneak back into Hogsmeade to get another present for Jason the next day because you wanted the whole fudge to yourself," James ended and Ellie was surprised James had even remembered all of that.

"Yes, well, that was very good fudge. I couldn't help myself." Ellie justified. "Is there any trait that you actually like about me?"

James grinned. "God Ellie. There's so many things I like about you; I don't understand why you would even need to ask! You're beautiful Ellie even when your hair gets all frizzy during the winter." James said and began playing with Ellie's long, dark red hair as Ellie scowled.

"It doesn't get frizzy James. It just gets... wavy," Ellie tried but it was useless. James stopped playing with Ellie's hair.

"Nah, Ellie don't even try. I've known you since we were little kids and every winter it would always get all puffy. Hmm, what else do I like about you? You're kind and funny and smart. Oh right, you snog so well that you could be a professional," James joked and Ellie snorted disbelievingly.

"Yeah whatever James."

"It's true!"

You know what I love about you?"

"What?"

"That you're basically blind without your glasses," Ellie teased before grabbed James' glasses and putting them on her own nose. Ellie backed away from James slowly, she was grinning manically.

"Ellie, what the hell!" James yelled, he was squinting around now and Ellie laughed loudly. James followed Ellie's laughter until Ellie was backed up against James' door. James had enough eyesight to see Ellie when she was right in his face. He made to grab his glasses but Ellie had ducked down causing James to miss terribly. "Ellieeeee..." James whined and Ellie giggled when she finally straightened up but James was prepared this time. He grabbed his glasses off of Ellie's nose before she even knew what happened. Shoving them snugly onto his own nose James stared at her while Ellie placed an innocent look on her face.

"You have really bad eyesight Jamie," Ellie said laughing.

"Not my fault," James grumbled and in the split second that Ellie and James' eyes met again something hit them. "Ellie, where are your parents?" James whispered quietly.

"At the Ministry," Ellie replied in the same dead whisper. "Where are yours?"

"Ministry."

And in yet another split second James and Ellie were kissing furiously, moving from the wall to James' bed in a matter of milliseconds. Ellie's stomach was full of butterflies that she couldn't seem to get rid of whenever she was in James' presence. Ellie's right hand was in James' hair where she was succeeding in making his auburn hair become messier than usual. Her left hand was on the small of James' back where she was pushing James down as close as she could towards herself. The feelings James gave her were always so mixed and yet they always made her love even more. Ellie longed for more of these moments where she could forget about everything and have the only thing on her mind be James. _James. _Even his name sent jitters down her spine. James' lips seemed to be working better than usual today as he kissed her neck then her shoulder and finally back to Ellie's lips. His kiss was passionate and rough, but at the same time it was soft and tender; something that was between only Ellie and James.

"Hey James-! What the bloody hell?!" The sound of a door slamming open and a new voice coming into the room broke Ellie and James' kiss. James fell off the bed in shock and Ellie brought herself up onto one elbow to look at the stranger. As it turns out it wasn't just one stranger but three. It would have been embarrassing enough to have James' kid brother watching them have a full on make out session but to have both Harry and Ginny Potter as well was taking it too far.

"M-Mum dad, w-what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be at that party," James stammered as he picked himself up off the floor, and Ellie quickly got up off the bed and ran to stand beside James' side. Mr. Potter had his arm around Mrs. Potter's waist and they were dressed in good looking robes; no doubt they had come from the Ministry. Albus was standing slightly in front of his parents, his mouth was still hanging open. Ellie looked down at her hands for a moment and noticed that the bracelet James had given her had indeed gone invisible.

"We were but you know how much I hate them, so we decided to head home early," Mrs. Potter answered, she had a bemused expression on her face that was mirrored in her husband's face.

"Oh," James said quietly. Ellie felt the blush creeping up and she knew that her whole face must be red by now.

"Hello Ellie, it's nice to see you again."

Ellie stared at Mr. Potter and smiled slightly. She knew that Harry had saved the world but to her he had always been just James' dad. Although she never failed to notice the way he and Mrs. Potter looked at each other. It was a mix between longing and passion, and it always made Ellie swoon inwardly. She would never tell James about that though, he would never let it go. Ellie looked once at James who had a dazed look on his face then she looked back at the doorway.

"I'm doing good Mr. Potter. Er- you didn't see my parents did you?" Ellie asked shyly. Hopefully her parents were still at the Ministry, if they were then getting back home would be a cinch but if they weren't...

"Don't worry they're still at the Ministry. I believe your mum said something about showing your dad her new office up on the fourth floor," Mr. Potter replied casually and Ellie sighed in relief. Al had finally managed to move his jaw back up but he was still staring at Ellie and James with unblinking eyes.

"We'll be downstairs for now. C'mon Al," Mrs. Potter said and Ellie smiled again when she saw Mrs. Potter wink. Once James' parents had successfully pulled Al away from the room, shut the door and made their way downstairs Ellie turned to look at James safely.

James ran a hand through his hair and grimaced. "Damn."

"At least they didn't shove me out a window or anything..." Ellie said happily and James gave a reluctant smile.

"Yeah," James said. "Is it bad that I still want to snog you even after we got caught by my parents?"

Ellie laughed and moved to curl up beside James' strong chest. "Honestly I think it is, but I feel the exact same way," Ellie admitted grinning.

"There's always tomorrow," James said and Ellie nodded excitedly. "Have you gotten me a birthday present yet?"

"No, I knew there was something I was forgetting!"

"Very funny Eleanor."

"Hey! You don't see me calling you by your real name do you?" Ellie cried.

"You always call me James, and that's my real name. Someones a genius..." James said teasingly and Ellie hit him lightly.

"I should probably get home now. Your mum and dad probably want to talk to you," Ellie muttered and James groaned. Ellie detached herself from James' body and headed for the window. James followed although slightly hesitantly.

"So you're not coming to my party tomorrow?" Ellie stooped to pick up her broom and when she got up she saw the look on James face and immediately felt guilty. His expression could've made a lion start to cry it's eyes out.

"I wish I could James, you know I do! But my dad's game against the Wimbourne Wasps is tomorrow and if they beat them then Puddlemere can get into the finals. I have to go support my dad," Ellie said sadly and James nodded understandingly. "I'll see you after the game though alright?"

"I'll think about you every single minute of the day," James said smarmily and cuddled up to Ellie. She laughed and pushed him off her before turning to the window again. The moon was up and it was bathing James' wooden floor in a milky white colour. Ellie turned back to James and saw he was grinning broadly.

"Since you're ditching me tomorrow I think that I deserve an extra birthday present," James said.

"I'll think about it." Ellie replied and kissed James quickly on the lips before hopping out the window and onto her broomstick. James watched her speed off to her window with a lovesick look on his face. She looked beautiful as she silently brought her broomstick to a stop and made it safely through her window. Ellie gave James one last wide smile before shutting her window and disappearing from view.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey birthday boy. Wanna come up here and get your present?"

James looked up to the tree house where Ellie stood smiling, hands behind her back hiding something. She had dressed up for his birthday. Ellie was wearing a pretty, eyelet, white summer dress with black flats on her feet and her red hair was cascading down in waves to her shoulders. She was also wearing the bracelet that James had given her yesterday. James' party had just ended when Lily had called him over to tell him that there was a surprise waiting for him in the tree house.

"I wish I could El, but I'm just _so_ tired from my party..."

"Oh shut up and get up here," Ellie laughed. James shrugged nonchalantly and made his way up the ladder onto the landing.

"You look very pretty today. Is there a reason?" James teased once he had reached Ellie. She backed away slightly, still hiding whatever it was behind her back.

"Don't be a moron James." Ellie said, but she was mocking as well, "you don't look so ugly yourself, I'm amazed you actually managed to look this good." James rolled his eyes at Ellie's comment. Ellie was right though- he _did_ look pretty good today. James had a blue plaid shirt on which he paired up with shorts and sneakers. His hair, as usual, stood up everywhere as though he just woke up.

"So, where's my present?"

"Merlin James, don't be greedy."

"Okay, okay, can I please have my present?" James asked eagerly and Ellie laughed. She withdrew her hands from behind her back and showed a medium sized package wrapped in vibrant orange paper.

"Orange?" James asked amused.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that was our colour.

"I kinda agree," James said happily and then started tearing off the paper viciously.

"Calm down James, I think your about to tear through the present too!" Ellie exclaimed but it was too late. James now had Ellie's gift in his hands; the wrapping paper no where to be seen. He was holding a combination of three things in his hands. The first was a new alarm clock that slapped you if you didn't wake up.

"I figured that you needed a new one. You always sleep in late and miss a lot of things so I think that with a slapping alarm clock you would finally be on time," Ellie explained and James scowled.

"I am not always late."

"You are usually," Ellie said shortly. "Go on! Look at the next one."

James complied and found the next gift to be a book of coupons. James looked at it curiously and met Ellie's gaze. "What's this for?"

"There's coupons in there for things like a free snog or a massage and other things like that. It's only good for a month though, so you should use up them up as quickly as you can. But once you do use one of them then it disappears instantly," Ellie snapped her fingers.

James smiled and looked at the very last present. James stared at it for a moment before shoving the alarm clock and coupon book in Ellie's arms.

"It's just a folded piece of paper..." James said and Ellie giggled.

"Read it."

James opened the fold and started to read the note from the top.

_Dear James,_

_Growing up with you has never been easy, you know? We went through fights and arguments and even some actual broken bones. I still remember that time you had caused me to do my first bit of magic. It was when we were three-years old and it was at my birthday. Dad had gotten me a new toy broomstick and the both of us wanted to go on it at the same time. You -being the gentleman you are- pushed me off the broom and sat on it first even though it was my broomstick. I was so angry with you that I caused my old broomstick to start chasing you around the room, hitting you every ten seconds. To say I laughed would be an understatement, James, I was in stitches the rest of the night. Oh James, I'll always have thank for that though. You, my dear boyfriend, were the one that caused my first signs of magic to show. Then when we were eight I pushed you into that pond near the muggle park we used to always go to. You were so angry at me that I was afraid you were going to explode! Luckily your mum came over just in time to take us home, I think she always knew that I pushed you into that pond but she never said anything. And then when we were eleven the train ride will always be unforgettable. Thanks to you I met Jovanna, remember? You and Fred decided it would be hilarious to turn her hair green on the train, I have no idea how you did it but she came in crying and asked to sit with us. Jovanna still doesn't know that it was you two that turned her hair green that first day. Then at fourteen we had our first kiss. It was at Hogsmeade, in front of the Shrieking Shack. It was awkward and yet sweet at the same time. I can tell you that you were always quite a good snogger even at fourteen years old. Moving ahead... when we were sixteen you got me drunk. When we went to that Christmas party down in Diagon Alley, I never knew that I would be coming home with almost no recollection of what happened that night. All I truly remember is something with you saying "We're getting pissed tonight Ellie!", a chicken and coming home to my mum's angry face. We were underage at that moment too, which added to my mum's wrath although I know for a fact that what you had to endure was much worse than what I had to. I guess what I'm rambling on and on about is that you've been around for all my firsts James, even the ones that I wish you weren't around for. _

_Happy birthday James, and you know how much I wish I could serenade you but my voice is much too horrible to be used for such things. As you've always said -"Bloody hell Ellie, when you sing people think they're in torture!"-so, I won't sing but I will tell you I love you. _

_Love, Ellie _

_P.S- You better be around for all my lasts too, you prat. _

"I love the way you find a way to insult me in a letter," James said, but he was beaming.

"So you like it then?" Ellie asked breathlessly.

"'Course I do El. How could I not love anything you give me?" James said sweetly and Ellie studied him for a second before taking the note out of James' hands and placing it on the small wooden table inside their tree house along with the other gifts. Ellie turned back to James and laughed slightly.

"Puddlemere won," Ellie said cheerfully and James looked confused.

"That's great Ellie, but-"

"I want to give you another present. I guess you could call it a cross between a victory present and a birthday present," Ellie said and took a step towards James. He did the same although a bit more anxiously.

"Let's try not to get interrupted this time," James whispered before he had crossed the rest of the distance between him and Ellie. He brushed his lips against Ellie's for a moment and then suddenly, quick as a lightening bolt they were upon Ellie's lips full on. Ellie grinned inwardly and then responded to their connection with fervor. James sweeped Ellie up into his arms where he held her for what felt like an eternity.

**So sorry this took so long again. I promise the next one will not be this long of a wait. Those Quidditch teams are actually real in J.K Rowling's world: they're in _Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K Rowling _of course. So, please review if you can! And stick with me for the next chapter! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's the next chapter! I'll be going back to their school days in the next two chapters so never fear! :) I hope this one is good right now, because I feel as though it's not as good as I wanted it to be. But read on and leave me a review if you'd like. Oh yes, I am not doing this for profit. :) **

"James, there's no Floo powder!" Ellie cried through their small house in anguish. James, who had been upstairs when Ellie had yelled, came running down the stairs two at a time. He came to a halt in front of his wife of three years and quickly became horrified at the sad look on her face.

"Ellie, d-don't cry. I-I'll go g-get some more!" James said but that only caused Ellie to let go of the tears that she had been holding back.

"Be fast," Ellie snapped. The tears had gone as quickly as they had come and James nodded. He hurried out of the room and apparated to Diagon Alley with a breath of relief. It had been this way for seven months now; _five _emotional months. Ellie was pregnant with their first child -a girl as the healer had said- and his wife couldn't be any more hormonal. Ellie hexed James for the stupidest reasons such as breathing too loudly ("James shut up! The baby wants to sleep!"), or when he had been two minutes late for a healer appointment ("You don't care James, _you don't care_!"). But so far the worst had been when Ellie had gotten annoyed with James' hair, now _that_ was a frightening scene; he still had regular nightmares of the maniacal gleam in Ellie's face when she was yelling, screaming and brandishing her wand threateningly at him.

James turned another corner and saw the Magical Transportation shop coming into view. He ducked inside the doorway and found the Floo powder hastily. After paying for the powder James decided he would apparate a bit farther along the line, besides Ellie was already probably mad at him for taking this long so there was no reason for him to not take some more time window shopping. Maybe he would get Ellie a gift so as to lighten the yelling for when he got home. James still remembered when Ellie had told him they were having a baby.

_"Hey! James, think fast you've got a gift from someone!" James looked up to see his partner -Robby Ainswick- throw a bundle of flowers at him. Once Robby had left (very loudly since he was snickering about the feminine gift James had just gotten) James stared at the flowers with a very dazed kind of look. "Who would send me flowers? And at work too..." James muttered to himself. He glanced at the card that came with the flowers and gasped. James dropped the flowers and without even thinking he apparated as fast as he could to The Daily Prophet building. Racing up the front steps James rushed into the desk at the front. _

_"I need to see Eleanor Potter," James gasped breathlessly and the welcome witch glared at him for being so loud._

_"Top floor, her office is right beside the Editor's." But before the witch could even finish her sentence James was racing up the hallway and got into the elevator. He pressed the Sixth Floor button so rapidly he was beginning to garner a lot of unwanted attention, but James didn't care. Finally the elevator reached the sixth floor and James hurried out, searching for his wife's door. Luckily he had found it quickly due to her name being on the front of the door (Eleanor Potter- Sub-Editor). James practically knocked down the door to get into Ellie's office. Ellie stood up when James had barged into her office but she had a knowing smile on her face when James pointed a shaky finger at her. _

_"Y-You're pregnant Ellie? W-We're going to h-have a kid?" James managed to stammer out and Ellie laughed. _

_"I guess you understood my note then?" Ellie asked confidently and James nodded although Ellie wasn't sure if he even understood what was going on. _

_"We're gonna have a BABY!" James yelled suddenly and before she even knew it Ellie was twirling around in James' arms with a sense of euphoria spreading around the two of them. _

That was before the hormonal mood swings and the getting up at four in the morning sickness, James shuddered just thinking about it. He had to say that he was glad he wasn't a woman, but if he said that in front of Ellie she would've hurt him so badly he wouldn't be able to sit down for weeks. That's when it hit James, he would get Ellie some chocolate so then she wouldn't eat _him_ when he got back home. Ten minutes later James apparated back home to his wife who looked as though she was about to punch James out with one hit. James lifted his bags of things up to show Ellie.

"I come bearing chocolate and Floo powder," James said weakly and handed the bag to Ellie. Ellie took one look into the bag and then flung it behind her, it hit the wall and slid down to the floor.

"Ellie, what the hell-" but James broke off when he saw Ellie's furious face staring back at him. She could've made a dragon run screaming from the scene with that look. He unconsciously took a step back from Ellie and glanced around for something to protect himself with. James knew he couldn't protect himself with his wand since it could hurt Ellie and in turn hurt the baby so he did the next best thing. He and Ellie noticed her wand on the coffee table in the living room at the same time, and at the same time they both gave a kind of war scream and darted to the wand. James easily beat Ellie to her wand though since she was so heavily pregnant still.

"James..." Ellie started warningly but James knew better now. He knew that if he was stupid enough to hand her wand then she would kill him and eat him for dinner, so he took the high road and stuffed her wand into his back pocket where she couldn't get it. Ellie made a pathetic attempt at a lunge but James moved away just in time, luckily Ellie steadied herself before she could fall. "James for the sake of your well-being I think you should give me my wand back," Ellie hissed, putting a hand out to take her wand. James moved away again and shook his head.

"For the sake of my well-being I should keep your wand away from you," James said firmly. Ellie let out a moan and fell down onto the couch. "Ellie! Are you okay? We didn't strain the baby did we?" James asked anxiously.

"James," Ellie moaned again but she shook her head. "I look like a whale. A really big, bloated, fat whale."

James stared at Ellie for a second, reveling in the relief of her stopping her wild, hormonal antics. Then, he went to sit down next to Ellie. James took her wand out of his pocket but kept a firm grasp on it so Ellie wouldn't be tempted to take it away.

"You don't look like a whale Ellie. You look pretty damn beautiful," James said truthfully but Ellie snorted.

"Whatever James you're onl-"

"No Ellie, shut up." James said angrily and Ellie looked taken aback. "As much as I hate your mood swings, and the way that you throw up in the mornings and how you always have those really stupid cravings; I would never change a thing about these last few months. You, my lovely wife, are carrying my child and that makes you amazing."

Ellie was speechless then she smiled broadly. "So, you don't think I'm fat then?"

"Fat? God no Ellie. I would love you no matter what anyways," James replied.

"I'd love you anyways too," Ellie said and rested her head on James' chest as comfortably as she could manage. He kissed the top of Ellie's head tenderly. "James?"

"What's up?"

"We still need to decide a name for the baby," Ellie said and James nodded.

"Yeah, I know and I think I have the perfect name!" James said enthusiastically. Ellie let go of her husband and looked at him curiously.

"What's that?"

"Huckleberry!"

"What the hell James! Do you seriously want our kid to get beat up? And another thing: that's a boy's name we're having a girl not a boy," Ellie said furiously.

"Fine fine, it was only a suggestion! What were you thinking?"

"I want to name her after a flower."

"You've been hanging around with Lily too much," James said simply. Ellie smiled because she knew that was true. She and Lily had been going out to lunch for the past few months together.

"I wanted Violet. Don't you think it's just a gorgeous name?" Ellie asked fondly and James laughed at his wife's enthusiasm.

"Yes, I like it," James said and watched Ellie's hazel eyes light up. "But I get to pick the middle name."

Ellie nodded. "Did you look through those baby books I gave you?"

"More like threw at me," James mumbled. Ellie had been in a temperamental phase that day and she had chucked about four baby books at him. He still had a slight bump on the back of his head where one of the books had hit. "Yeah, I looked through them and I found a good name that I think would go with Violet very well."

"Go on."

"Grace," James finished. Ellie clapped her hands happily.

"Oh James! Violet Grace Potter sounds beautiful! You're so awesome James!"

James was amused, as he gathered his wife into his arms for another hug. Ellie had gone from happy to sad to angry and now to simply euphoric. James sighed inwardly as he thought gratefully that there would only be two months of this left.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"James I hate you so much!" Ellie shrieked. James stared at her in fear, she was livid and looked as though she would curse anyone that dared mess with her now. And for good reason, for Ellie had just gone into labour and James had taken Ellie's wand away from her again. They were in the birthing ward in St. Mungos where Ellie was surrounded by James, her mother and two Healers.

"You told me a hour ago that you loved me!" James argued back.

"That was before I went into labour with your child!"

"_Our_ child Eleanor, _our_."

"Sod off James!"

"James, there's no use arguing with her now," Patricia said calmly and James nodded his understanding. Ellie clutched James' hand so tightly that he thought he heard a bone break.

"Ouch Ellie, not so tight!" James yelled forgetting his mother-in-law's demand.

"Not so tight?!" Ellie screamed back angrily. "That is _not_ pain you git! How about you try pushing a bloody human out your-"

"Alright Mrs Potter, it seems that you're ready to push now," Healer Edwards said coolly.

"About bloody time!"

After two hours of yelling, screaming, swearing and even more broken bones on James' part the Healers finally announced that the baby had come out. James had been so excited to see the baby that he had gone around to look at it first, despite Patricia's protests. The last thing he remembered before fainting was a whole lot of red and a small, slimy thing. Ten minutes later James had finally come 'round. He was sitting in the arm chair next to Ellie's bed in which his tired but exuberant wife was laying, holding a small thing in a yellow blanket.

"Oh God," James mumbled holding his head.

"Well, it's nice to see you are conscious now," Ellie teased and James ruffled his hair nervously. "The Healers fixed the bones that I broke."

"How are _you_?"

"The Healers say everything is fine and our daughter is perfect," Ellie replied happily. "Speaking of which, do you want to meet your daughter before you pass out again?" Ellie asked and James nodded enthusiastically. Ellie beckoned him closer and passed the small, yellow bundle to him.

"Er- is she supposed to be that wrinkly and red?" James asked tentatively and Ellie giggled.

"It'll go away don't worry. I think that Violet looks like you," Ellie said softly and James couldn't help but agree. Violet had tufts of auburn hair coming out already and she had James' brown eyes that he had inherited from his mother. Violet gave him a small smile when he looked back down at her, and it suddenly hit him that she had Ellie's smile. The same smile that made James have to grin back. Ellie laughed, "She's not even a week old and she's already got you wrapped around her finger."

"I thought that they give out pink blankets to girl babies here?" James asked suddenly, it had only just occurred to him but Ellie shrugged.

"I don't particularly like the color pink, so I asked for yellow or purple. They only had yellow as another colour," Ellie explained and James laughed. He handed Violet back to Ellie and smiled again. For some reason neither of the new parents seemed to be able to stop smiling.

"She's beautiful Ellie; we did a good job" James said and kissed lightly.

"Yes, we did, didn't we?"

"You were amazing too Ellie, although I could've done without all that cursing," James joked. "Where's your Mum?" He asked suddenly, only realizing that Patricia was gone.

"She's outside. Mum said that the parents need some time to bond with their baby first," Ellie explained as Violet tried grabbed Ellie's little finger.

"She's gonna be a Chaser," James muttered and Ellie laughed.

"What if she becomes a Beater?"

"Nah, she'll be a Chaser beca-"

"Don't even start that terrible joke again James," Ellie said but she was smiling. "Your Daddy and I like to say really bad jokes to each other, you'll get used to it honey," Ellie said to Violet.

"She'll love them Ellie!"

There was a moment of silence in which both Ellie and James watched their child shut her eyes and drift off to sleep. James grasped Ellie's hand and squeezed it; Ellie did the same until she decided to break off the silence.

"Ready to meet the rest of the family Violet Grace?" Ellie asked softly.

"I'll get them," James said and started walking to the door, when Ellie called his name.

"Hey James?"

"What?" He turned around to look at her.

"I'm never letting you touch me again," she said and James chuckled. Sprinting back to Ellie's side he kissed her tenderly on the lips.

"You wouldn't be able to last a day without me," James said and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah I know, now go get our families."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"James be careful with her!" Ellie warned nervously.

"Ah Ellie, don't be such a worrywart! Vi loves it, don't you?" James asked his daughter and continued throwing Violet up in the air.

"Higher Daddy!" The just turned two-year old squealed happily and James laughed.

"You've got it m'dear," James agreed and the proceeded to throw Violet even higher into the air. Ellie knew that she shouldn't be feeling this worried but she couldn't help it. Shaking her head slightly Ellie walked slowly into the kitchen. Pointing her wand at the dirty dishes into the sink, Ellie began to sink into thought. She vaguely watched the dishes clean themselves. She could hear James' laughter being followed by Violet's loud giggles.

She and James had moved from their small home in London a couple of months ago to a larger house on the outskirts of Reading. James had had the idea for a while now but they had only just acted on it since they both realized that Violet would love more room to play around. Now, it was just perfect. The small family had enough room to play Qudditch without being seen by Muggles and even had a very pretty view of the surrounding hills. James had decided that he would build Violet a tree house where she could play because both he and Ellie had loved theirs' when they had been younger. Ellie watched the dishes dry themselves then fly neatly into the open cupboards. Ellie smiled fondly as she remembered how terrible Jovanna was with household spells. Jovanna had recently wed a Scotsman named Thomas and they were currently preparing their house for the arrival of their first child. Jovanna and Thomas lived in a tiny town called Potters Hill, something that greatly amused James.

"Sickle for your thoughts?"

Ellie jumped when she heard James' voice interrupt her thinking. "Where's Vi?"

"In her play pen. I put so many toys in there that I think she might drown in them," James answered and Ellie gasped. "Kidding, Ellie, jeez. There's only like twenty toys in there max," James assured and Ellie nodded, relieved. "So, are you going to tell me what's up?"

Ellie smiled and wrapped her arms around James' waist affectionately. "I've been thinking..."

"Thanks for that Captain Obvious," James muttered sarcastically and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"James, I'm pregnant!" Ellie blurted out before she could stop herself.

"You're kidding!?" When Ellie shook her head no, James couldn't help himself. He picked up his wife and twirled her around in happiness and Ellie was instantly reminded of when she had told James she was pregnant with Violet. Once James had placed Ellie back onto the ground, he said, "That's great!"

"You mean you don't think it's too soon or anything?"

"Hell no Ellie! Violet's already two, she needs a sibling to annoy," James answered and Ellie laughed, kissing James soundly on his lips.

"I'm going to go tell Fred, 'kay?"

"Yeah, you go. I'm going to go get Violet," Ellie said and watched James race to the fireplace. Ellie followed him, her face a beaming mask of happiness and picked up her daughter from the magical play pen. But before James' had even made it to the fireplace Fred's head popped into the fire.

"Fred!" James cried.

"Wotcher mate! Hey Ellie, and how's my goddaughter doing?" Fred asked jovially and Ellie smiled as she pushed Violet a bit higher onto her hip to show Fred.

"Hiya Unca Fwed," Violet said and Ellie kissed the top of her daughter's head tenderly.

"She's doing very well, at least without your corrupting," Ellie answered and Fred looked shocked.

"Well I'll be! James your wife thinks _we're_ the ones that corrupt people!"

James laughed loudly and turned back to Fred. "Guess what?"

"You've turned into a kumquat?" Fred asked and James shook his head.

"No, try again."

"Ellie dropped Violet?"

"Nah, try again."

"People-"

"James, just tell him before he runs out of breath!" Ellie cried, she remembered how much that used to annoy her back at Hogwarts. James nodded at Ellie bemusedly.

"I'm a father!" James yelled, but Fred only looked confused.

"Yeah, I know. Her name is Violet, short with black hair; I think you may know her..."

"No, you git I mean I'm about to be a father again!"

"James, don't swear," Ellie scolded, covering Violet's ears with her hands.

"That's rich coming from you Ellie. You were the one screaming profanities when we were back at Hogwarts," James retorted and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Yes but we didn't have a small child then, did we?"

"You see! You two are the corrupting ones not me!" Fred said and Ellie glared at him. "A-Anyways, congrats mates. I wish you the best of luck creating more offspring's after this one," Fred said quickly, trying to avoid Ellie's death stare.

"Hey wait, why'd you Floo us in the first place?" James asked curiously and Ellie's glare stopped since she had been wondering the same thing.

"Oh! Right, I almost forgot. Annissa wants us to get together soon for tea. She also says that if you two say no then she will be forced to put a Full Body-Bind on you and drag you all the way to our house," Fred said and James laughed.

"You married a vicious one Fred," James said and Ellie hit James on the arm.

"So did you James m'boy," Fred replied.

"You both are gits, and tell Annissa that we'll be over on Saturday," Ellie said and Fred nodded.

"Gits!" The high-pitched yell didn't come from any of the adults but from Violet.

There was silence for a full two minutes before Fred interrupted it in a would-be casual voice if he hadn't been snorting with laughter under his breath.

"Well, I'm outta here! See you two Saturday!" And before Ellie or James could say anything Fred had ducked out of the fireplace and disappeared. Ellie looked at her daughter who seemed to be very pleased with her new word.

"Wow," James muttered as he stared open-mouthed at Violet.

"Mummy!" Violet said and Ellie allowed Violet to encircle her neck in a hug.

"You know I always thought it would be me who taught Violet a swear word," James said and Ellie was surprised to see that James was looking quite put-out. Ellie gently released herself from Violet's hug and placed her daughter back into her play pen where Violet immediately started playing with her teddy bear.

"You know what James?" Ellie asked as she slowly walked towards him a smile playing tauntingly at her lips.

"What?"

"I'll let you teach our son a swear word when he grows up, okay? Then we'll be tied," Ellie said fairly. James was confused for a moment.

"Son?" He asked stupidly as Ellie finally reached James and fell into his arms.

"Yeah, I think it's a boy. It feels different than it did with Vi."

"I get to name him this time, okay?"

"Yep, that sounds pretty fair."

"Austin," James said simply and Ellie stared at him.

"Huh?"

"I want to name him Austin," James explained and Ellie smiled as she kissed James' cheek happily.

"I like it." Ellie said. "I've figured out a middle name too."

"What is it?"

"Harry."

"After my Dad?" James asked and Ellie nodded.

"Yeah, I've always looked up to your Dad. And c'mon, he's a pretty amazing guy isn't he? I mean he raised you didn't he?"

James laughed, "Austin Harry Potter. That doesn't sound half bad."

Ellie giggled and pulled James' head down to meet his lips to hers'. They became so caught up with each other that it took a loud yell from Violet to snap them away from each other. Both Ellie and James had become so attuned to their daughter's cries that they could probably hear Violet from miles away. Ellie let go of James and crossed the room to pick Violet up, as James followed.

"Don't worry Vi, we could never forget about you baby," Ellie whispered in Violet's ear and James laughed.

"I think she forgot about the _g-word_," James hissed in Ellie's ear and Ellie nodded. She was silently praying that Violet had in fact forgotten git. "You're going to be a big sister Violet!"

Violet clapped her hands enthusiastically and her parents laughed. And indeed, nine months later a little boy named Austin Harry Potter was born to James and Ellie Potter. He had dark red hair like Ellie's and James' brown eyes. Violet had was very excited to see her new baby brother and had poked him in the eye when she first saw him. The small family was content with their size but neither of them guessed their family was about to get even bigger in the coming years.

**Yep, they will have more children, no more than four though don't worry after all they're not total Weasleys; only about a quarterish Weasley. It felt a little weird to write about Ellie and James post-Hogwarts but I still enjoyed it. I'll write about the birth of their next two children two chapters from now so stay tuned. I'm planning to write about Ellie and James' first date next though, so that should be fun. Anyways, review if you can! **


	12. Chapter 12

**I am so sorry, for taking this long just to update. My only excuse is being much too busy for a summer schedule. I'm currently in England at the moment, visiting my grandparents and aunt/uncles and stuff. I'm staying in Cornwall right now but I'm going to London tomorrow. It's really fun, considering I am writing this with British lingo and I'm really Canadian. :) Carrying on, at least this chapter is up finally, so keep reading if you're still following Hate is a Strong Word after my really long absence. Right, I always manage to forget this until the very end of the Author's Note: I am doing this only for pure fun and getting my ideas out, not for prohit; although you all probably know that by now there's no point to even type that out. **

"Wake up Ellie, we're going to be late for Potions!" The sound of Jovanna's annoyed voice and a pillow being lobbed at her head was enough to wake Ellie up.

"What the hell Jovanna!?" Ellie groaned. It was too bright and she could hear birds chirping outside her window. "It's only- 8:15!" Ellie screeched when she had taken a look at the alarm clock next to her bed and Jovanna rolled her eyes.

"Yes you moron! Classes start in fifteen minutes! I'll wait for you outside," Jovanna said as she shut the door behind her and for the first time Ellie noticed that Jovanna was dressed already. Ellie jumped out of her bed and started to throw off her pajamas and put on her robes. Ellie had fallen twice on her arse in her rush to get to the door, and once she had grabbed her books from her trunk Ellie slammed the door behind her and ran down the stairs two at a time, almost tripping in the process. Jovanna was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs and Ellie saw the common room was empty save for a couple of seventh years in a corner.

"We have ten minutes left, that's just enough time to make it down to Potions," Jovanna said in the bossy voice she always took on when she was stressed.

"What about breakfast!?" Ellie asked and Jovanna shook her head.

"No time," Jovanna said simply and pushed Ellie out the portrait hole roughly. They started down the stairs and Ellie stared longingly toward the hallway that led to the Great Hall.

"Foooooood," Ellie moaned but Jovanna ignored her and led her down the stairs. Despite their speed Ellie and Jovanna were slightly late for Potions so that once they reached the Potions classroom, the whole class was settled and Slughorn seemed to be done lecturing the class. Slughorn turned around when Ellie and Jovanna had made it through the doorway.

"Ah, Miss Michaels and Miss Wood come sit! We were only just starting!" Slughorn boomed and Ellie moved swiftly past his protruding belly. Slughorn always said he would be leaving after one year but he always came back. He was practically in love with Jovanna and Ellie knew it was because she was stunning and smart; Jovanna would obviously go far. But, he'd also taken quite a liking to Ellie which surprised her to say the least. Jovanna took her seat which was all the way at the back of the room and Ellie occupied the seat next to James who already had all his stuff set up.

"Oversleep?" James asked knowingly and Ellie glared at him as she set up her cauldron.

"Yes, but at least I don't snore."

"I don't snore Wood, I just sleep loudly," James said and Ellie rolled her eyes. She started taking out her ingredients and looked up at the board. Slughorn had already placed the instructions on it and he was now staring into Frankie Longbottom's cauldron. Ellie knew what was going to happen before it happened. Frankie was the nicest person you could ever meet but he was also the clumsiest person in their year and he always managed to blow something or the other up; and sure enough the loud _boom_ of Frankie's cauldron went off.

"Not to worry, not to worry!" Slughorn reassured and Ellie caught James' eye, he was grinning widely but Ellie bent back over her cauldron just as Frankie passed their desk; no doubt getting some kind of cleaning vial from Slughorn's cupboards.

"Hey, Ellie," James hissed and Ellie turned to him angrily. She hated being interrupted when she was working, and knowing James it was probably something trivial.

"What?"

"Wanna go to Hosmeade with me tomorrow?"

Ellie had been so taken by surprise that she had dropped her tube of pomegranate juice down onto the desk. The glass shattered and the reddish juice swam around on the desk.

"Careful there Wood!"

"Yes Professor!" Ellie called back and she felt a faint blush creeping up into her cheeks and James smirked smugly. "_Reparo_." Ellie said, pointing her wand at the broken, glass tube and it instantly repaired itself.

"So, what's your answer?" James asked once Slughorn had turned to inspect Penny Davies' potion.

Ellie stared at him; they'd been friends ever since they were young and Ellie would be lying to herself if she said that she hadn't developed feelings for him during the last year. But he was James bloody Potter, the same James that had boasted for months of making the Gryffindor Quidditch team in his second year (same as Ellie), the same James that had called Ellie a moron for most of her life, and yet Ellie had still crushed on him for a year now.

"Ellie, are you alive?" James hissed, waving his hand in front of Ellie's face.

"Yes, I'll go with you," Ellie blurted out.

"That's what I thought. I'll meet you in the morining, try not to oversleep," James replied and turned back to his work. Ellie watched him and saw how he sat up higher on his stool, how he ruffled his hair again, how he had a goofy grin on his face while he spilled some rat spleens into his potion. She had no idea what possessed her to blurt out her answer so quickly, but this was what she wanted and nothing could have made her happier at the moment. Ellie smiled to herself and looked around, trying to catch Jovanna's eye but she was so absorbed in a conversation with Slughorn that she didn't notice any of her surroundings. Ellie smirked, she knew for a fact that Jovanna just kept up that facade to get better marks in Potions.

The rest of the class passed by quickly, and when she had handed in her vial for marks Ellie was amazed to see how empty the class had become. Jovanna had already left, since the Divination classroom was about four million floors from the dungeons. Once Ellie had made it out the door, however, she found herself ambushed by James.

"Bloody hell James, you scared me!"

"Sorry Wood, but you're just such a easy target," James said and they began strolling up the stairs: Ellie to Ancient Runes and James to Arithmancy. The two classrooms were only a floor apart.

"Whatever, I'm not the one that screamed last year when their Boggart turned into a spider," Ellie snapped and James stopped suddenly on the staircase.

"I didn't scream, Ellie."

"Yeah, you did," Ellie said, stopping as well.

James let out a small smirk which caught Ellie off guard.

"A spider is a better Boggart than a _needle_," he sneered and Ellie glared daggers at him.

"Hey, you're the one that caused me to be afraid of needles!" Ellie countered but James only shrugged and continued up the stairs. Ellie followed him rather hesitantly but she quickened her pace once she realized that she might be late. They had reached the Ancient Runes corridor where Ellie turned to James, the atmosphere around them had suddenly become awkward but nice at the same time.

"I'll see you at lunch," Ellie mumbled and James grinned.

"I'll see you tomorrow too," James answered confidently and Ellie let out a smile as well. James gave her a swift wave and started up the next staircase that led to his Arithmancy class. Ellie started to the Ancient Runes classroom but chanced one look behind her shoulder at James. He was ruffling his hair and unexpectedly he turned around too. Their eyes met for a split second then: "I know you want me Wood!"

Ellie groaned and stared at him, "You're an idiot James!" She yelled and James laughed before sprinting up the stairs and out of sight. Shaking her head slightly and James' stupidity Ellie stepped into her Ancient Runes classroom. After about an hour the class was dismissed and Ellie walked out of the class feeling heavy, and not because her bag was loaded with books. They'd just been given two essays and four translations for homework. Ellie was feeling way less than thrilled about the weekend although the thought of spending Saturday in Hosmeade alone with James cheered Ellie up greatly. Ellie ran up to the common room passing James' fan club -who all gave her dirty looks for who knows what- and dropping her books off in her dormitory she sped off to lunch.

"Hey Ellie!"

Ellie looked around at the sound of her name. Terra Howard was hailing her from the Hufflepuff table, waving like mad. Ellie walked over to her and gave her a friendly smile. She was sitting with all her other friends: Isabella Finch-Fletchley, Wendy Cristholm, Serena Boot, and Meriel Patil.

"What's up?"

"Jovanna asked me to tell you that she's staying behind to talk to Professor Trelawney about some charts or something, so she won't make it down to lunch," Terra spoke very quickly, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Oh, okay." Ellie said. She had been hoping to tell Jovanna about her and James' date.

"Er- Ellie? Why is James Potter staring at you?" Serena asked suddenly and Ellie whipped around to look at the Gryffindor table. James was indeed, staring at the back of her head and once she had turned to face him, gave her a radiant smile, then turned around and became engrossed in a conversation with Fred. Ellie smiled uncertainly -as the butterflies in her stomach began to flutter crazily again- at the Hufflepuffs who met her smile with weird smiles of their own.

"That's just him being an idiot. I better go over and see what he wants anyway. Thanks for the heads up Terra," Ellie said kindly and Terra nodded absentmindedly. Giving another grin and wave to the Hufflepuffs Ellie crossed the distance between the Hufflepuff table and the Gryffindor table. She squeezed herself in between James and Fred.

"Hey, Ellie! We were trying to talk here," Fred said indignantly but Ellie snorted.

"Whatever," Ellie replied, pulling a plate of sandwiches toward herself and putting about six onto her plate, before eating. Fred and James watched her eat with their mouths gaping. "What?"

"You'll want to watch that figure Ellie, especially with your date coming up," Fred muttered and Ellie gagged on her sandwich.

"You told him!" Ellie cried at James as quietly as she could manage.

"It's not like you wouldn't have told Jovanna," James said nonchalantly.

"I'll see you two in History of Magic," Fred said and then made such a quick getaway that Ellie had barely had seen him move but she had more pressing problems.

"Merlin Ellie, that's a really stupid reason to be angry at someone with," James reasoned.

"No it's not."

"Yeah, it is."

"No."

"Yes. I know what you're doing Ellie," James said with a smirk playing on his lips.

"I'm not doing anything," Ellie snapped.

"Yeah you are. You're afraid that after our date, we'll stop fighting like this and turn into that gross couple phase," James said coolly and Ellie stared.

"N-no-" Ellie stuttered, but she knew he was right on the mark.

"Don't deny it Wood."

Ellie sighed when she realized there was no point in trying to fight with James anymore, he was right. "Yes alright! I'm scared that if we start dating we won't fight like this anymore and we'll become just like any other stupid couple!" Ellie blurted out to James' satisfied face.

"Oh Eleanor, you're so naïve!" James said dramatically and Ellie stared at him, her eyes flaring angrily at the use of her real name. "If we do start dating then I can promise you very clearly that we'll never stop fighting. I can barely go a day without taking the mickey out of you let alone a whole year."

Ellie was hardly aware of how close she and James were getting when suddenly Jovanna appeared out of nowhere.

"I made it to lunch! Professor Trelawney says that she thinks I've got a real future in Divination," Jovanna said happily once she had dropped her bag on the floor in front of the bench, taking three of Ellie's sandwiches off her plate before Ellie had the chance to protest. Ellie and James moved apart, allowing Jovanna to squeeze in between them. "Anyways, she also said that I got full marks on my dream diaries. Isn't that great!? Mum and Dad say that they'll get me a new wardrobe when I get home if I pass all my exams with great results so that's one class taken care of," Jovanna rambled on, making very good progress in the eating of Ellie's sandwiches.

"It won't be difficult for you Jovanna, everyone loves you," James pointed out and Ellie nodded.

"Not everyone, I'm still trying to get Professor Sinistra to raise my mark. I _really_ want that new wardrobe!" Jovanna said longingly. "I probably won't be able to make it into Hosmeade tomorrow anyways, sorry Ellie."

"That's fine. I've already made plans," Ellie said, sending a covert wink in James' direction. Jovanna had been taking a sip of her milk so she didn't notice that small exchange from Ellie and James. Suddenly Jovanna slammed down her goblet and glanced at her watch; she let out a little squeak. "Oh no! I promised that I would tutor Olivia in the library, and I'm late! I'll see you in History of Magic!" Jovanna stood up, grabbed her bag again and hurried out of the Great Hall.

"She's not busy at all is she?" James asked sarcastically watching Ellie stare at her almost empty plate.

"I reckon she's trying to get the prefect badge next year, and getting a new wardrobe would just add the the excitement," Ellie said. She looked at her last lonely sandwich and sighed. "She needs to learn not to take what isn't hers," Ellie mumbled to herself.

She and James spent the rest of their lunch talking about random subjects without any arguments but once they had reached the subject of Quidditch a small thunderstorm started.

"The Chudley Cannons will never win James, when will you get that through your thick head!?" Ellie cried.

"Yes they will!" James said angrily. "You saw how close they were when they went up against Pride of Portee!"

"Ha, I suppose you think that 360-120 is 'close'," Ellie sneered.

"Whatever, I'm not taking this from someone that thinks that the Wimbourne Wasps are a decent team."

"But they are! You're only angry that they managed to beat the Meteorites in the semi-finals."

James spluttered but before he could even retort a distraction came in the form of Fred.

"What's the daily bicker today?" Fred asked jovially and Ellie stared at him. He had his bag slung over one shoulder and was grinning knowingly.

"James is being an idiot," Ellie snapped bitterly.

"Ellie's being stupid. She's under the impression that the Wasps are a better team than the Cannons," James said, throwing a annoyed look at Ellie.

Fred looked at him and then his face broke out into another smile. "I think that Puddlemere could flatten both of those sad excuses for teams," Fred replied, throwing a significant look in Ellie's direction. Ellie's heart swelled with pride for her father, and she gave Fred a smile back.

"Thanks Fred," Ellie said gratefully but as she was turning around to finally eat her last sandwich she saw something that looked a tad bit like anger or jealousy etched on James' features.

"I think they're a good team too!" James said but Ellie had stopped listening and was now stuffing her face with her sandwich. "I though you were leaving?" James asked, giving up on getting Ellie's attention and Fred shrugged.

"I went back to the common room and grabbed my stuff, but then I decided I wanted to make sure you two hadn't killed each other," Fred explained and Ellie snorted.

"I have to go get my bag from the common room as well," Ellie said dropping the crust from her sandwich back on the plate and getting up from the table. "You coming?"

James shook his head. "I already have my stuff, we'll see you in History of Magic."

Ellie nodded and started walking out of the Great Hall; by the time she had reached the first staircase of many she had become lost in thought. She was excited for her date with James but there was still a nasty little voice in her head that kept insisting that everything would change. Ellie's feelings for James' were strong, that was for sure, but she had always been very good at hiding her feelings. But now there was another fear in Ellie's brain. What if they ended up having such a huge row that they broke up and were never friends again? Surely that wouldn't happen but it was a very probable possibility with all the rows that they had gotten into already. But, they had stayed friends ever since they were little so who was to say that another couple of fights would break them up when they were together.

"Watch it!"

Ellie had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even realized she had just walked into a very tall sixth-year. Mumbling an apology Ellie practically flew up the last two flights of stairs to the common room. It was moderately filled with people, most studying or just hanging out before their afternoon classes. Ellie hastily went upstairs and grabbed her bag from her empty dormitory. It was messy still, except for Jovanna's pristine clean side of the room. Ellie grimaced, sometimes it was hard having a perfect best mate. Jovanna easily overshadowed Ellie in marks, and she was also higher than Ellie in the pretty department. Jovanna was stunning, all the boys loved her and they wanted her. Her black hair always shined perfectly, her blue eyes always had a twinkle in them and her body was _flawless _due to the many years of dance lessons Jovanna had had.

Ellie turned around from her dorm but not before she caught her reflection in the large mirror beside the door. "Yeah, Jovanna definitely beats me in the pretty department," Ellie said savagely as her image gazed back at her. Her long, red hair didn't _shine_, in fact it barely had any volume or shine at all. And her eyes had no twinkle whatsoever; they were a plain dark brown nothing more nothing less. Her figure was athletic from Quidditch but it held nothing on Jovanna's dainty, petite dance figure. Even Jovanna's breasts were larger than Ellie's, that was something that never went unnoticed by more than three-fourths of the male population. But Ellie had one thing over Jovanna: James. Ellie had always been James' best girl friend and Ellie knew that somewhere deep inside it greatly bothered Jovanna. Jovanna and James were friends but they never had the same relationship that he and Ellie had.

"Be more positive there dear," the mirror suddenly replied lazily. Ellie glared at it.

"That took you a long time to answer," Ellie snapped, before she realized she was arguing with a mirror.

"That Jovanna dear is nicer than you as well," the mirror said angrily. Ellie was tempted to throw something at the mirror but she knew that she would be late if she kept messing about up in the dormitory so after one last death glare towards the mirror Ellie ran down the stairs, through the common room and down the corridors and stairs to History of Magic. The line was already queuing outside and Ellie caught sight of Jovanna and the little second-year Olivia Finnigan. Jovanna must have persuaded Olivia to come to History of Magic classroom so that Jovanna could be closer to the class. Ellie thought it best to leave Jovanna alone so she looked around until she spotted Fred's bright red hair and next to it: James' messy auburn hair.

"Hey Ellie!" James said happily, their row completely forgotten.

"What took you so long?" Fred asked.

"I got into a fight with my mirror," Ellie mumbled. Fred and James shared a glance at each other and shrugged. Just then the door to the classroom opened and Ellie saw Jovanna say goodbye to Olivia, then hurry into the classroom. The rest of the line outside followed. Ellie seated herself right in the middle of the class where James sat beside her while Fred and Jovanna sat two tables behind them. Ellie prepared herself for another boring lecture when James passed Ellie a note.

_We still on for tomorrow? _

_That depends, do you think we're still on for tomorrow._

_Don't play games with me Wood, I know you. _

_Who says I'm playing a game?_

_I do. _

_Well then, you're an idiot because I'm not._

_Good, because I like you Ellie. I like you more than I am prepared to admit. _

Ellie stared at the last line then looked up at James. He was looking at her with a hopeful gleam in his eyes, then he nodded his head. Ellie quickly scribbled an answer.

_I like you too._

_I guess that we are on for tomorrow then. _

_I guess we are..._

The rest of History of Magic passed by like a blur for Ellie, as did their last class (Transfiguration) and before she knew it she was getting ready for bed up in the girl's dormitories. Allison Jordan was sleeping already, her textbook slowly slipping out of her lax grasp. Irene Smith and Tabitha Lammers were both doing their homework in the common room while Ellie was laying out on her bed reading the new book her mother had just sent her last week. Suddenly the door slammed open with a loud, resounding crash. Ellie glanced at Allison and noticed that she had barely even moved after the noise. Jovanna stormed through the door and sat down heavily on her bed. Ellie placed her book on the bedside table and sat up, staring curiously at Jovanna's seething face.

"What's up?"

"_What's up?_ I'll tell you what's up! Olivia sacked me!"

"What! Little Olivia?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"She said something about me being too stressed and irritable because of my busy schedule. Think Ellie: _me_ busy Ellie?"

"Jo-"

"I can't believe how ungrateful she is!"

"Jova-"

"Ellie we must get back at her somehow! You, James and Fred always think up of good things, help me!"

"Cal-"

"Argh! I'm just so angry that I could-"

"JOVANNA! I'M GOING ON A DATE WITH JAMES TOMORROW!"

Suddenly Allison's textbook fell out of her grasp and landed on the floor with a small _thud_, and at that moment the whole room fell into a silent reverie. Jovanna's mouth had opened and her grey eyes were large and somewhat bitter.

"Wow. T-that's great El," Jovanna said. Ellie let Jovanna hug her but she didn't let the angry expression on her face go unnoticed. Then Jovanna retreated back to her bed and there was another weird moment of complete silence.

"Well, I'm going to bed. G'night Ellie." And without even bothering to wash her face or change into her pajamas Jovanna had laid down in her bed and covered herself completely with her blankets. Ellie watched Jovanna for another minute before she decided to stop worrying about Jovanna. Instead Ellie occupied herself preparing herself for the next day. After figuring out what to wear on her date Ellie finally went to sleep, but her dreams were less than pleasant. Her dreams became littered with images of Jovanna jumping into a lake with James following after her, but when Ellie tried to jump she became too heavy to float and began to sink. Then she was in the Great Hall where Jovanna was pointing at her accusingly yelling something about friendship and love.

Ellie groaned as she heard her alarm clock going off with the same annoying beeping noise. Sitting up, Ellie noticed that Jovanna and her roommates were already gone. "What time is it?" Ellie asked herself groggily and stared at her clock.

"It's 8:30. We still have some time before we go to Hogsmeade."

"James! How the hell did you get up here!?" Ellie yelled, for indeed, James Potter was lounging against the door of her dorm wearing a self-satisfied smirk and the butterflies in Ellie's stomach had started to flutter and beat their wings.

"Easily. Fred and I figured out a way up here two years ago."

"So you've been stalking random girls since second-year?"

"Whenever I can," James replied grinning. He walked away from the wall and smirked again. "Nice hair."

Ellie leapt out of bed and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her red hair was sticking up all over the place in different directions. "Merlin, I look like you!" Ellie moaned turning to face James.

"Dear, that's a good thing," the mirror said and Ellie glared at it.

"Shut it."

"See, even your mirror agrees with me: my hair is stylish."

"Ha, you wish buddy. Now get out of here I need to dress."

"Oh Ellie! You don't need to dress you know."

Ellie let a slight smile leak through her angry face. "Get out of here you moron," Ellie snapped and wrenched open her dormitory door before grabbing James and pushing him down the stairs.

"Ellie! You could've done me some serious damage!" James yelled up stairs, but he was only joking since he had landed lightly on his feet at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good, maybe I'd have been able to cure your big head!" Ellie called down to him, and hearing his laugh one last time Ellie slammed the door again. Hastily Ellie ignored the rushing butterflies that had turned into Hippogriffs and focused her sole attention on making herself look somewhat presentable. She ransacked Jovanna's trunk for her magical hairbrush that she had gotten last time they had been in Hosmeade. Ellie found it at the bottom of Jovanna's trunk and after quickly running it through her hair she looked in the mirror.

"How do I look now you stupid mirror?"

"Quite nice, although you are still not as nice looking as that Jovanna dear."

Ellie shrugged. At least she had gotten one nice compliment from the mirror. Ellie's hair looked shiny and thoroughly well groomed and now all that was left was getting dressed and some make-up. After about ten minutes Ellie rushed out the door and down the stairs at top-speed only to find that James was missing. Ellie's face fell, she had been excited to see James again when she was looking better than she had been in the morning. The common room was virtually empty save for a handful or second and first-years until James popped up from behind a armchair.

"Well don't you look ravishing Ellie."

"Thanks. I have to admit that I did work hard to look good for you," Ellie replied and James laughed.

"You want to skip breakfast? We can eat in Hogsmeade."

"Yeah, sounds alright with me."

"'Kay, just try and control your raging hunger," James said and Ellie rolled her eyes as she followed James out the portrait hole. Together they walked down the moving staircases to the Entrance Hall where they left through the snowy grounds and into the small village of Hogsmeade. James turned to her immediately but before the question was even out of his mouth his stomach along with Ellie's rumbled so loudly that some people around them turned around to look for the sound.

"To The Storming Unicorn then!" James said pointing ahead of them to the small pub that had just opened two years previous and Ellie nodded excitedly; they had the best scones in the whole world. The sign in front of The Storming Unicorn depicted a unicorn that was charging a picnic basket. Ellie grinned, knowing full well that a real unicorn would never dare do something like that. The pub they entered was very quaint and cozy; it had some customers but it had never lived up to The Three Broomsticks reputation.

"What can I getcha today?" A middle-aged waitress came over to the couple once they had been seated at a small booth: Ellie seated on the opposite side of James.

"Can I have a dozen of your scones and tea too?" Ellie said and watched the waitress' notepad suddenly have her order written on it.

"I'll take five bacon sandwiches, four muffins and a butterbeer please," James said grinning in Ellie's direction.

"Hungry are you?" The waitress said, looking very much irritated for some reason before sweeping off into the kitchen area.

"I was thinking we could go to the Shrieking Shack after this, unless, you're much too terrified..." James challenged and Ellie narrowed her eyes.

"Do you seriously think that I would be too scared to go near a building?"

"Well, it's the most haunted-"

"Blah, blah I've heard that stupid story before. I'm not afraid James, so shut up."

"Fine, fine, no need to be rude about it Wood."

"Here's your food," the waitress had appeared again, levitating two plates of food, a cup of tea and a bottle of butterbeer for James. Ellie watched the waitress place the levitating objects down on the table harder than necessary.

"So, we're going to the Shrieking Shack for sure?" Ellie asked.

"Yep."

"Good. Jovanna's always been really scared to go near it."

"Gryffindor bravery at it's peak," James said sarcastically and Ellie laughed.

"I always thought that the Sorting Hat should've placed her in Ravenclaw."

"Really? I think that Slytherin would have been more Jovanna. She's real ambitious after all. But then again, no one wants to be in Slytherin, " James pointed out.

"She'd fit anywhere," Ellie said, somewhat angrily.

"Are my ears deceiving me? Is Ellie Wood jealous!?" James said, his bright eyes shining.

"I'm just saying she has so many options, while all I had was Gryffindor. Do you know what the hat said to me!?"

"Nope. Remember you were the last one sorted and went after Fred so I was too busy being all happy with him."

"Oh yeah. The hat told me that Gryffindor was the only choice for me. Then it goes on to say that my study ethics are too messed up so I can't be in Ravenclaw; I don't have an overpowering urge to prove myself, so that rules Slytherin out; and I'm not kind enough to be placed into Hufflepuff. When have I ever been unkind?" Ellie rambled and James laughed.

"You pushed me into a lake when we were little."

"You pushed me out of our treehouse when we were little," Ellie retorted.

"Fair play. How'd you get into Gryffindor then?"

"It said that my recklessness, trouble making, and thirst for fun was much too overbearing so it stuck me in Gryffindor."

"The hat was right though," James said happily and Ellie stared at him. "What? You'd rather be in another house?"

"No, not really," Ellie answered thoughtfully, grinning through her sip of tea at James. "How about you?"

"You mean how did I get into Gryffindor?" James asked and Ellie nodded. "It was easy I reckon. The hat just said some characteristics about me and my family and then screamed out Gryffindor. It wasn't a really big surprise though, since my whole family's been in Gryffindor."

"I've had it easier than you, at least my family is diversified. My Mum got sorted into Hufflepuff after all," Ellie stated proudly.

The rest of their breakfast passed peacefully enough and by the time they were finished it was already eleven o'clock. Ellie fought with James for a couple of minutes over paying the bill for their food, but in the end James won.

"My charming ways always manage to change the mind of even the most stubborn Ellie tantrum," James said smugly as they started their trek to the Shrieking Shack.

"You only won because you threatened to drown me in the Black Lake," Ellie grumbled.

James laughed and placed his arm on Ellie's shoulder, pulling her close to him. Countless times James had done this with her but this was the first time that Ellie felt her heart beat speed up and her nervousness take over slightly. "I can't believe you actually thought I'd drown you Ellie."

"You've done worse things. Like trying to steal my broom!"

"Only you, Ellie, would consider broom stealing worse than drowning," James said and Ellie let out a small giggle. As they approached the Shrieking Shack Ellie took notice of a group of girls following them from behind.

"Hey James?" Ellie hissed, sending a covert look behind her back before turning to James again.

"What?"

"Did you know that we're being followed by a whole tidal wave of girls?"

James turned around then beamed at Ellie. "Yep, they're my fan club. Don't worry I'll get rid of them," James added quickly, seeing Ellie's disgusted look. He let go of Ellie and moved to face the gaggle of girls, ranging from first to seventh-years.

"Hello ladies!" James said, grinning widely to each of them. Ellie grimaced in the background and mimed vomiting. "I was hoping you'd all be kind enough to give me a small break from your gorgeous presence at the moment. You see, I'm kind of busy at the moment," he finished and Ellie watched, her mouth gaping, as the girls followed James' directions and left although a couple of them threw death glares to Ellie.

"They just _listen_ to you?" Ellie cried incredulously as James nodded and pulled Ellie along the rest of the way to the Shrieking Shack.

"Sure you still want to stay here Wood?" James asked playfully.

"I'm always up to a challenge Potter, don't forget it." Ellie said, her eyes drifting to the run down building. "Besides this place isn't that creepy..."

James looked over at the shack as well, a grin gracing his face. "You do look really nice today, you know."

Ellie smirked and looked back at James at the same time he looked at her. "Thanks. I should probably feel ashamed of saying this but I really do like you James."

"I'm sure that my charms played a part," James said and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Your charms have never affected me," Ellie said quite proudly.

"Why'd you say yes to going out on a date with me then?"

"Because I like you idiot. I like how over-confident you are in everything, I_ like _how you always look so perfect, and I really like you just being you even when you're a total jerk to everyone."

"You just made my heart melt with your romantic words," James said dramatically and Ellie laughed.

"Promise not to laugh if I tell you something very mushy?" Ellie asked abruptly.

"Depends."

"James..."

"Okay, okay!"

"You make the butterflies in my stomach start to flutter really fast," Ellie admitted, her face turning a shade of red. James blinked at her before ruffling his hair and grinning a confident smile in her direction.

"In other words do you mean to say that if I kinda kiss you, you wouldn't pull away or anything that would plummet my self-esteem?"

Ellie was startled, but in truth she had been thinking about kissing ever since they had reached the Shrieking Shack. "James your self-esteem is so high that if I ever did pull away it would only go down half a notch," Ellie said and James chuckled. "B-but, I think kissing is a very safe option."

And then James' lips were on hers. It was awkward and yet Ellie couldn't help but love it. He tasted like bacon from his sandwiches and sweet from his butterbeer, and then the smell of oranges hit Ellie like a hard blow to the face. But just as she had been about to get more into the kiss, James pulled away and looked at her uncertainly. His face was a slight shade of red but Ellie wasn't sure whether that was from the cold or her snogging skills.

"Er-" Ellie started, avoiding looking into James' eyes.

"That was really amazing."

The wow factor in James' voice made Ellie look at him. His eyes had a brightness in them that Ellie couldn't place but nevertheless it made her feel special and needed. "Yeah, well, I'm not one to brag..." Ellie started and James simpered at her.

"I, uh, know it sounds weird coming from me and all but you want-" James trailed off but Ellie only laughed.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend!" Ellie exclaimed, jumping onto James. He caught her and Ellie linked her arms around his neck as he encircled her waist. "But, we're going to have to talk about your fan club too!"

"They're not that bad; just a little... obsessive. I'm sure they'd let you join. Maybe you would even become their leader!" James replied.

"Haha," Ellie said but she was grinning full blown now. "I really think that they would rather kill me then let me join."

"If I kiss you again, I think they'll start planning their revenge."

"I can take that chance," Ellie said very seriously.

And then, in the next second both Ellie and James were caught up in each other. The kiss was much longer and joyous in Ellie's opinion. Ellie's thoughts suddenly disappeared and her whole mind and body was full of James and only James. All the fights and arguments they had had over their years knowing each other had suddenly dissolved to let the happier and blissful memories come into Ellie's brain. Ellie and James became so caught up in the moment that neither of them noticed the way Hogsmeade had just started to have a snowstorm, the way that the Shrieking Shack's windows had stopped banging; all they noticed was the was they gripped each other tighter and tighter.

**Aha, don't worry, they never did more than kissing especially at fourteen! Anyways, James' Slytherin remark came from his very out-spoken thoughts in Deathly Hallows. The kid obviously has some prejudice over that particular house, and J.K Rowling even said that the whole Slytherin prejudice lives on a little. And after this scene is when Ellie and Jovanna get into the whole fight, referenced in the chapter where Ellie is sick. Oh yeah, Frankie is Neville and Hannah's son. I keep imaging him as this cute kid that always drops things and is a total klutz but everyone still loves him (especially me!). Final note: next chapter involves some Ellie temper and overreacting and even a tiny bit of crying, while James gets into an accident. **


	13. Chapter 13

**The next chapter! I got this up earlier than the last chapter so I hope you all appreaciate that. :) Anyways, please enjoy and remember that I'm only doing this for pure fun. **

"Wearing your lucky shampoo?"

"Check. You got your broom?"

Ellie stared at James and scoffed. "Do you seriously believe I would forget my broom when we're going to a Quidditch match?"

"It's a possibility," James said, shrugging as he took Ellie's hand in his and led them towards the Quidditch Pitch where their last game was about to take place against Slytherin. James had been drilling them for weeks before the games and yet he still seemed to think they were totally unprepared unless he was wearing his shampoo. The lovely orange smelling shampoo that Ellie had taken to associating with James whenever she thought of him. They had been _officially _together for two years now and Ellie couldn't be any happier. It was amazing, the way their arguments either dissolved into fierce kissing sessions or break ups that lasted for an hour. Sure, she had gotten a lot of dirty looks from random girls and even a couple of blokes, but Ellie found herself not caring too much... at least not in front of James.

Ellie watched James lead her on. She'd never actually admit it to him, but he looked very good right now. In fact, it was taking all of Ellie's willpower not to just skip the game and lock James in a broom cupboard with her the whole day. James turned back to face her with a goofy smile on his face.

"I know what you're thinking," he said and Ellie smirked.

"Learned Legilimency have you?"

"Nope. It's the look on your face that says it all; I can read you like a book."

"Then what am I thinking about?"

"Snogging," James said simply and Ellie grinned.

"It's not like you were thinking something different!" Ellie cried, running to catch up with James but still holding hands.

"Actually Ellie, I was thinking about the match in case that managed to slip your mind," James said, but he was smiling at Ellie. She opened her mouth to retort, but stopped immediately since they had reached the change rooms. "Try not to miss me too much Ellie!" James said.

"I'll try, but James, it's going to be dreadfully hard to," Ellie replied, smiling before running into the girls' change rooms. Lily Potter and Charlotte Cleve were already changing, and both girls gave Ellie friendly smiles when she walked in.

"Alright Ellie?" Charlotte asked, grinning.

"Fine thanks Char. How have your training sessions been going?"

"They've been good except Fred keeps thinking that it'd be funny to swing the bat in my direction every single time I fly too close to him," Charlotte complained and Ellie laughed.

"That's how boys are though right? Total idiots until they hit maturity, and Ellie, in James' case that might take ages!" Lily said, throwing a concerned look in Ellie's direction.

"I kind of like the way he is though. I like the way we fight and then find the time to snog at the same time..."

"Okay lover girl, hurry up and get your robes on or else James might have to kill us all for being late," Charlotte said hastily and Ellie nodded. After pulling her red hair into a ponytail and throwing on the last of her Quidditch robes Ellie grabbed her broom from the broomstick closet as did Lily and Charlotte, then the three girls tromped through the door onto the field. The stands were packed and the masses of green and red were hurting Ellie's eyes but Ellie didn't have much time to stare at the stands because in the next second James had run up to the girls already in his Quidditch robes with his own broomstick shouldered securely with the rest of their team following: Al Potter, Brody Jones and Fred Weasley. The Gryffindor team got into a small huddle together as James prepped them with a talk.

"This is our last match and I know that we can win! Slytherin are nothing okay? We beat Ravenclaw in less than twenty minutes which means Slytherin should be a walk in the freaking Quidditch Pitch. Just remember that we can take anyone as long as we're united and that's what we are right?" Ellie joined in with the rest of the team in a chorus of "right!". "You see, we've got this and there is no way that we're going to let a bunch of little gits in Slytherin take away _our_ cup!" At this point James looked around to each of them, giving reassuring glances at everyone.

"Now, Charlotte I need you and Fred to go over the strategy we figured out last week alright?" James ordered and Charlotte nodded as she began walking with Fred to the area where they kept their Beaters bats. "Lily-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't even worry with a stupid excuse. I'll just take Al and Brody away and make small-talk," Lily said nonchalantly and James stared at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you want to snog Ellie before the match, so I'm giving you time," Lily said, rolled her eyes and walked away pulling her other brother and the Gryffindor Keeper along with her.

Ellie regarded James' slightly flustered look and laughed. "Lily's quite perceptive."

"She was right though," James said now grinning too. "How about a kiss for good luck?"

"We've got your shampoo James, why would we need some more luck?" Ellie asked slyly and James seemed to consider it for a moment.

"It's always good to have a back up plan," he whispered before he planted his mouth on her's. Ellie could barely hear some of the wolf-whistles and boos from the stands but she did hear quite clearly what James said to her after their kiss: "We'll win for sure."

Ellie grinned after him stupidly before realizing that they were about to begin. Running to stand beside Lily, and clambering on her broomstick Ellie looked around once more. The Slytherins were all looking very focused as James walked towards their Captain and Head Beater: Walter Flint. Flint was a troll like seventh-year that had never failed to somewhat scare Ellie. He always talked in a growling voice and loved to hurt things, usually small first-years. Ellie watched James give a sarcastic smile at Flint then saw Flint whisper something to James that Ellie didn't hear but she did notice the way Flint and James both looked back at her: James with a worried expression and Flint with a very creepy looking facial arrangement. James' face contorted with anger then he snarled something in a deadly whisper to Flint that, yet again, Ellie didn't hear.

"Shake hands Captains."

James and Flint gripped hands but let go so quickly that Ellie was surprised they had even touched. The whistle blew and Ellie was up in the air waiting for the Quaffle to be passed to her. Lily had the Quaffle at the moment and was weaving in and out of the Slytherin team with amazing precision. Ellie flew ahead of Lily and waited for her to pass the Quaffle up the line, and from her view Ellie could see James' flying ahead of Lily as well. Wendy Warrington suddenly hit a Bludger in Lily's direction so fast that Lily had barely enough time to throw the Quaffle at Ellie who caught it as Lily dodged the Bludger. Ellie wove between Charlotte as she was whacking a Bludger of her own in the direction of Landon Gurguge of Slytherin. The Bludger hit it's target in dead center, but Ellie had to swerve upwards to avoid hitting Fred; Ellie lobbed the Quaffle to James but just as he was about to catch it Septimus Howards intercepted it. Luckily, he managed to drop the Quaffle as well, allowing James in to give Gryffindor full possession again and before Ellie knew it James had scored, putting Gryffindor in the lead.

It went on like this for around another half hour in which there was a lot of fouls, Quaffle droppings and Bludgers. Gryffindor had been down thirty points when Ellie noticed Al speeding down to the ground and in the next second the Slytherin Seeker Bulstrode had started to follow him. Ellie had been back in possession of the Quaffle but everyone had stopped dead to watch the Seeker/Snitch chase so Ellie took her chance: she zoomed straight past all the frozen in mid-air players and threw the Quaffle as hard as she could through the left most hoop on the Slytherin side. And then the cheering took over Ellie's ears when she saw the red end of the stands whooping. Ellie saw Al holding a glittering gold ball in his hands, grinning widely and screaming words that were drowned out and Ellie started yelling as well. Then James was flying at her ruffling his hair happily as he had a beaming grin plastered on his face and Ellie thought that he would never stop smiling. He crashed into her without (thankfully) causing her to fall off and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

"Told you we'd win," he said smugly and Ellie laughed.

"Just kiss me, Captain," Ellie ordered and James kissed her - fifty feet in the air.

It was amazing the euphoria that winning a Quidditch game could cause and Ellie couldn't believe how caught up in it she was. In the minutes that she and James were kissing, Ellie felt a great amount of emotions race through her body: joy, love, excitement, pride and optimism. The setting was beautiful, hundreds of cheers and laughter surging around she and James. The man she was kissing was just simply amazing, and the reason for their celebration was just perfect but of course something had to ruin in. Ellie broke apart from James, smiling radiantly and James laughed. Ellie saw him look around and wave at all the people clapping and cheering again but then his grin had turned into a look of alarm. James grabbed Ellie roughly and pulled her behind him. Ellie stared at James, wondering what on earth made him do it but then the answer came. A Bludger was hurtling towards the couple and James had placed himself right in front of it, to take the whole blow and save Ellie.

"James!" Ellie screamed but it was almost not heard due to the sickening crunch that came from the Bludger coming into target with James' stomach and chest area. Everything seemed to move in slow motion to Ellie. James' had fallen from his broom and was now free falling down through the air in a limp position and Ellie knew in that moment that he was unconscious.

She looked around desperately but everyone she looked at was frozen in shock including Walter Flint who still had his Beaters bat half-raised. Ellie let out a strangled cry of horror when she watched James' body hit the ground but to her surprise he landed softly, she looked around for her boyfriend's savior and saw Professor Flitwick holding out his wand, pointing it in James' direction. Ellie flew down to the ground as fast as she could and before she could even try to stop them her tears had started to fall fast and hot as she kneeled beside James' passed out body.

Then everyone else was around his body and Ellie couldn't stop crying. She hardly registered Lily's arm around her shoulder and Fred's hand holding her's comfortingly. Flitwick conjured a stetcher out of the air and levitated James' onto it; Ellie raised herself and watched him be taken to the hospital wing.

"Ellie?" Charlotte's small voice sounded oddly hollow to Ellie. "He'll be alright. I'm sure he'll be fine, I'm just sure."

Ellie wasn't completely sure how she managed to make it back up to the common room but nevertheless about ten minutes later she found herself sitting on her bed, with Jovanna patting her back comfortingly. Ellie had dried her tears but she was still feeling a sense of guilt in every bone in her body.

"It was my fault Jovanna!"

"You didn't make James push you behind him..."

"No but if I hadn't made him kiss me then we wouldn't be in this situation!" Ellie shouted but before Jovanna could react Lily had stormed up into their dorm.

"Ellie!" Lily cried breathlessly but she was beaming.

"What?"

"James is awake!"

A wave of relief washed over Ellie and before she knew it she was up on her feet regarding Lily with a curious stare. "B-but I thought he was unconscious?"

"Madam Pomfrey managed to wake him. He seems alright, except for a lot of broken bones, but nothing is damaged in his lungs which means he should make a full recovery. Al and I've already been to see him but he keeps asking for you, so I came up here to get you," Lily explained.

"Go Ellie!" Jovanna yelled and Ellie went. She barreled out the portrait hole and ran full speed down the stairs to the hospital wing where James was asking for her; he was _asking_ for her. Finally after another minute of breathless running Ellie slammed the Hospital Wing's door open and hurried to James' bedside. He had bandages all over his body but - to Ellie's immense surprise - he was grinning as though he had never been whacked by a Bludger. Unexpectedly the tears that Ellie had dried became exist again when she had made it right by James.

"Merlin Ellie, I'm not dead don't cry," James said groggily and took Ellie's hand in his.

"But you could've been you just got lucky," Ellie cried. "Lily told me you were lucky not to damage your lungs."

"More lucky things like that and I should be fine."

"James!"

"Okay, okay," James said in a resigned tone. "Are you alright?"

"_Me_?"

"Yes you, idiot."

"Of course I'm alright! You pushed me out of the way!"

"I reckon you owe me for that," James said happily, disregarding Ellie's tormented face.

"James, do you not even care that you almost died!?"

"_Almost_ Ellie, that's the key word. I'm perfectly fine now now that I've got you by my side," James said and Ellie shook her head at James' words. Using her sleeve to dry up the rest of the tears Ellie stared at James.

"I can't believe you just got hit by a Bludger and yet you still can act all flirty around me!" Ellie said but she secretly admired James' optimistic side.

"I love you Ellie."

"I love you too James," Ellie whispered and before even thinking about it she swooped down and grabbed James in a tight hug.

"Ow, _ow_, OW!" James cried and Ellie immediately jumped off him, grinning sheepishly.

"I'm sorry."

"Love hurts," James muttered but he was grinning as well. "So, what happened with Flint?"

"I-I don't know, I would like to murder him though. The little tosser! How dare he..." Ellie said vehemently.

"Here comes Volcano Ellie. Ah, how I have missed you!' James said sarcastically and Ellie rolled her eyes. Ellie stared at James for another moment when a wave of understanding suddenly hit both of them. Ellie knew that James would be alright after all, and her overreacting wasn't going to help anything. James' eyes held some kind of confidence and hopefulness in them that Ellie comprehended right away. He needed her to understand that he could take care of himself and that he was never just going to step aside and let her get hurt.

"You're always going to be stupidly brave aren't you?"

"Yep. And you're always going to go mad after something goes wrong?"

"Yep. There's no point trying to stop it now."

Ellie spent the rest of the day with James until Madam Pomfrey came rushing out of her office, shouting about staying in the hospital wing for too long and that James needed a break. Ellie reluctantly got up but looked at James once more. He looked healthy but he still seemed off maybe it was all the bandages or the fact that he had bottles upon bottles on his bedside table that he needed to drink.

"I'll see you tomorrow right?" James asked.

"Yeah, of course. And then I'll come the day after tomorrow and the day after..." Ellie said and James laughed lightly but instantly stopped when a painful grimace graced his face. "What's wrong?" Ellie asked worriedly.

"Nothing El, it's just my stomach don't fuss," James said, waving her off but Ellie still looked at him suspicously. "I'll be fine Ellie, stop getting your knickers in a twist. Madam Pomfrey says I'll only be here for a fortnight anyways-"

"Around a fortnight," Madam Pomfey interrupted. "And Miss Wood, I was under the impression that you were leaving."

"Yes, I was; I'm sorry," Ellie said and turned back to James. "I'll be here tomorrow," she said and kissed him quickly before striding out of the hospital wing. Ellie checked her watch and was startled to find out it was already nine o'clock. The corridors were empty by the time Ellie had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Titanus," Ellie said.

"That's the password," the Fat Lady confirmed cheerily.

Ellie stepped through the hole and glanced around. The fire was crackling warmly as a group of seventh-years chattered in front of it. There were other groups of students all doing homework or else speaking merrily to their mates but Ellie had spotted Fred's hair and she made a beeline to him.

"Hey," Ellie said as she reached him. Fred put down the parchment and quill he had just been scribbling furiously with and stared at her with a calculating expression.

"Al told me that James'll be fine. I'm going to go see him tomorrow," Fred explained and Ellie nodded glumly. Even though she knew that James' would be alright soon, she felt as though she needed to do something but Ellie couldn't quite place her finger on what. "What's up with you?"

"I-I feel as though I need to do something but I can't figure out what..." Ellie trailed off and Fred grinned.

"Getting back at Flint?" Fred suggested as his grin turned into a full-fledged smirk. Suddenly something in Ellie flared up and her eyes flashed dangerously.

"Yes. Have you got any ideas?"

"What a stupid question Ellie!" Fred exclaimed and lifted the parchement he had just put down up and held it out to Ellie. She took it. "I've been writing ideas since I got into the common room."

"You're brilliant Fred!" Ellie cried, scanning the paper quickly.

"Oh Ellie, you're making me blush," Fred replied and Ellie laughed.

Ellie and Fred stayed up well past midnight planning their revenge on Walter Flint, and by the time Ellie had fallen asleep she and Fred had created a very well-planned revenge. The following day was a Sunday - the day of the revenge - but Ellie had decided to spend the entire day with James again. He was still looking hurt but put on a huge smile when Ellie had walked into the room.

"So Fred's initating it now?" James asked after Ellie had explained what they had in store.

"Yep."

"Damn, I wish I was in this right now," James said bitterly and Ellie frowned.

"You can't James, you have to rest-"

"Blah, blah, blah Ellie. Don't worry Madam Pomfrey's been watching me all day."

"Why?"

"'Cause I keep trying to get out of bed, but then she comes running at me out of nowhere and forces me back in bed. It's getting really annoying. This place is really horrible to stay in."

As much as Ellie disagreed with James' attempts to get out of the hospital wing she couldn't help but be in perfect agreement with him about the horrible part. "Hospitals are dreadful James, I've been telling you for days." Ellie said and looked around. "Who's all this from?" Ellie asked referring to the piles upon piles of get-well items on James' other bedside table (the other table was covered with potions still).

"I don't even know half of the people that sent me this stuff. I know that's from Keiko though," James said pointing at the enormous bouquet of daises on his table.

"I've always hated daises," Ellie said, crossing her arms furiously.

"Since when!?" James asked, but he was completely amused.

"Since Keiko decided to give you a bunch of them," Ellie said angrily. James only looked at her with a faint smile of amusement drawn on his face. Ellie was about to change the subject when Fred ran into the hosital wing, and although breathless he was beaming.

"Did it, just now!" He said exuberantly to Ellie and she laughed.

"Flint's going to get a nasty surprise when he wakes up," James said and Fred nodded.

"Merlin yes. I changed the plans a bit though," Fred said and Ellie stared at him.

"Huh?"

"I put him in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom instead, much more embarrassing when he comes through. She seemed pleased when I put him in there," Fred said.

"Impressive," Ellie muttered. "Did you steal the rest of his clothes as well?"

"Oh yeah. I vanished them."

James laughed as the thought of Flint waking up almost naked inside save for some underwear in a girls' bathroom came to mind.

"Anyways, I'm going to leave you two alone. I can see the sexual tension in the air and I don't want to be in here once it all boils over," Fred said and patted James and Ellie both lightly on their heads then ran out of the hospital wing still grinning. Ellie turned to James again and finally uncrossed her arms. "Tomorrow," Ellie began, "I'm going to bring you an even bigger batch of flowers and they're going to be violets."

"Suit yourself Ellie, but you know I'll love whatever you get me."

The next day after lunch Ellie brought James the largest batch of flowers he had ever seen. The totally obscured Ellie's face as she carried them to James' table. After slamming it down, Ellie sat down heavily in the chair she had occupied so much that a butt mark was making it's way onto the chair. "It'll never wilt. I made Jovanna put a charm on it."

"Remind me never to mess with you when you're in your competitive state," James said firmly.

"How about you never mess with me at all?"

"Wishful thinking Wood," James replied easily. Ellie laughed and pecked James quickly but before she could pull away James had grabbed her tightly and held her for another more passionate kiss. Ellie wasn't one to complain though, she had been afraid that she would hurt him.

"I see you're feeling better," Ellie said happily as she pulled away.

"Oh Ellie, you _always_ make me feel better," James said.

"I've even missed your non-charming lines. My heart wrenches for you James," Ellie said, laughing as her brown eyes shined. Ellie stood up and glanced at James, he looked somewhat sad to see her go and before she could make to stop him James had gotten up with a lot of grimacing but he looked very pleased nonetheless. Ellie was about to yell at him but she was beaten to it.

"Potter!" The yell came from a red-faced Madam Pomfrey who was charging at them and once she had reached them had forced James back into the bed and gave him a stern glare. "I feel as though I must stun you just to keep you in bed!" She cried and Ellie watched the proceedings with a smile. After ensuring that James wasn't about to get up anytime soon Madam Pomfrey rushed back in her office, throwing warning glances over her shoulder back at James every second.

"I told you! She's really beginning to creep me out," James said looking furiously at her office again. The covers around him were so tight around him that he felt as though it would an accomplishment to be able to move a finger. Ellie laughed and kissed James again before she also left the hospital wing for her afternoon classes. Ellie visited James every single day (sometimes with Fred, Jovanna or his siblings) for a week until Madam Pomfrey announced albeit grudgingly that James would be allowed to leave six days earlier than she had thought.

"It feels amazing to be out of that bed!" James declared two days after he had been released and Ellie laughed loudly. They were walking down the halls together again, kissing in broom cupboards again, and making jokes throughout their classes again; Ellie hadn't felt that happy since their kiss after winning the last Quidditch game. Walter Flint was avoiding James' presence altogether which Ellie always found very funny since he seemed so big that he could crush James in one punch, but Ellie suspected that Flint knew it had been one of James' friends that stunned him, undressed him and left him stranded in a girls' bathroom.

A week later Ellie had been passing the boys' bathroom on the fifth floor when a loud explosion erupted from the bathroom in question then in the next second James and Fred were charging out of the bathroom and through the hallway. Both boys grabbed one of her arms and shoved her into a secret passageway where they started to dissolve into laughter. Ellie glared at both of them.

"You've been out of the hospital wing for a week and you decide to blow up a bathroom?!" She yelled incredulously but her yelling soon became drowned out by her own laughter. Finally after drying off their tears of happiness Ellie saw James shrug his shoulders.

"I needed a bit of fun Ellie! I wanted to see how my after-accident body would do," he said.

Ellie snorted. "Your after body would do the same things as before James! Don't be a moron!"

James' face had turned into arrogance for a moment and then: "You want to see what else I can do Ellie?"

Ellie blinked at him, then she felt a faint blush come on her cheeks but nothing could hid the big grin that was seeping on her face. In the next second James and Ellie were kissing furiously, lost in each other's smells, limbs, and love. Fred was gaping.

"Get a room!" He cried and James let go of Ellie for a moment instead he grabbed a hold of Fred and pushed him out the other end of the passageway.

"We've got one now mate," James said, grinning and shut the secret door in his still gaping face. Ellie laughed and crushed herself to James, all thoughts of a blown up bathroom gone from her mind. It sometimes made Ellie angry the way that James was able to make her forget everything and yet at the same time he made her the happiest she had ever been; that's why as she found herself become lost in the fury that was James, Ellie could never love a man more.

**Well, that's another chapter down. :) I made Flitwick headmaster in this story because I believe he would've been promoted to just that. J.K Rowling stated that McGonagall would've retired by the time the next generation kids had made it to Hogwarts, so I thought that Flitwick would be the next best choice. Back when James and Ellie were first-years I think that the Gryffindor Quidditch team would have been filled with Weasleys, but now since from only the younger kids are at school that leaves only them to rule the Quidditch field. Rose to me seemed like a Ravenclaw, and Albus a Gryffindor while I think that Scorpius made it into Slytherin but I think that they would all be best mates anyways. It would involve some serious inter-house friendships which warms my heart! :) Soon there's going to be some Roxanne in the story; she's Fred's sister. Well, before I start writing an essay about my thoughts.... Review if you please! :D **


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, I'm back home. A combination of jet lag, laziness, friends, and family has stopped me from updating too quickly. I miss England so much, it feels weird not to hear that accent everywhere I go. Storms are dominating the weather here in Canada. A tornado even went through my older brother's town where he's going for university. The twins (my brother and sister) had a total freak attack and barricaded themselves in our basement when they heard the tornado warnings. They basically threw our puppy down the stairs with them, so he wouldn't get killed by the tornado. It turned out that a tornado never hit our city in the end, but the twins still seemed to have the time of their lives. I'll stop rambling about my life now and let you carry on reading. :) I'm not doing any of this for profit. The world of Harry Potter belongs solely to J.K Rowling and her genius mind. I only own Ellie Wood and their children. **

"Ellie? Ellie, are you awake?" James' voice and rough shaking woke Ellie up from her wonderful, blissful sleep. Groaning she turned over on her side to glare at him; he was laying with his face turned to her and even in only the light of the moon Ellie could see his brown eyes sparkle as usual.

"What James?" She asked irritably when her eyes caught sight of the alarm clock. "It's 2 in the morning!"

"I think that I should go to Hogwarts with Violet. I mean we can set up a camp-bed in her dorm and then I can stay there-"

"I think Violet would rather die than have you stay with her at Hogwarts," Ellie said.

"You don't seem as torn up as I do about this," James said angrily and Ellie laughed.

"Just because I hide my emotions better than you doesn't mean that I am not torn up."

"You do not hide your emotions better than me," James replied.

Ellie grabbed her wand off the bedside table and used a couple of flicks to turn on the lamps. James' face was illuminated no longer by the milky glow of the moon but by the bright lamp light.

"Yeah I do," Ellie said smugly, letting a smirk play excitedly on her lips.

"Don't tell me that you're not going to miss her!" James said.

"Of course I'm going to miss her. She's our first-born, our little girl but we have to let them go at sometime. And look at how excited she is, remember when she got her wand?"

James grinned fondly. "Yeah. Jumping about and yelling, even rubbing it in Austin's face."

"Exactly, she's always going to come back to us but first we have to let her go," Ellie said gently, gathering James in a hug. He hugged her back tighter in response.

"I love you," he muttered into her hair and Ellie giggled.

"I know. Now go back to sleep, we have to get up early to see Vi off," Ellie ordered and released herself from James' grasp. She flicked off the lamps again and within seconds James could hear her slow breathing. But James couldn't sleep. Deciding he'd rather not face Ellie's wrath of being awoken too early, James left their bedroom and descended down the stairs to the kitchen. They had a large kitchen that had a moderately big window that overlooked their backyard. They had Muggle appliances that Ellie had insisted upon, and a dining room table that had a lot of burn marks due to his two sons love of blowing things up on it. James or Ellie could've easily gotten rid of these marks but both of them had decided that they would keep them as an everlasting memory.

James turned on the lights, glanced around and gave a start of surprise because sitting at the dining table, eating some cereal, was his youngest son: Sam. The boy in question looked around when he saw the lights come on. "Hey dad."

"Alright Sam?" James asked, taking a bowl from the cupboards and helping himself to some cereal. "What're you doing up?"

Sam looked at James evenly with Ellie's eyes as James sat down across from him. "I could ask you the same thing dad," he said slyly and James laughed.

"Sorry buddy, I asked first."

"I-I'm going to miss Vi," he mumbled so quietly that James had barely heard.

"That makes two of us," James replied and Sam let a look of surprise cross his face. "Mum just had a nice yelling at me for waking her up and worrying about Violet."

It was Sam's turn to laugh this time. "Austin keeps telling me that she'll forget all about us, but I think he's just lying."

"Oh he is. Austin loves to take the mickey out of you," James confirmed, then thought about it for a moment. "Actually the both of you love taking the mickey out of each other."

"Yeah, well-" Sam started sheepishly. James spooned some cereal into his mouth and smiled over at Sam for a second.

"We've still got Leah, you know," James said, referring to Sam's five-year-old sister.

"Yeah, that's true but Leah always gets back at me and Austin if we ever tease her."

"Leah's her mother's daughter that's for sure," James mumbled. "Look Sam, Violet will never forget you. No one will ever forget you don't worry," James said reassuringly but Sam didn't look fully convinced. "Where did this sudden other side of you come from anyways?"

"I dunno. I was thinking before I fell asleep that we wouldn't see Vi until she came back for Christmas and then it hit me," Sam said unhappily.

"We'll send letters everyday Sam, okay?" James suggested but when Sam looked horrified, his dad changed the idea. "Maybe every third day?"

"Okay," Sam nodded, looking happier. "And when Vi's gone can I go up on her broom? 'Cause her's is better than mine and since Vi can't bring it to Hog-" Sam rambled on and James laughed.

"We'll see, now go to bed we need an early start tomorrow," James said and watched Sam get off his chair, leave his empty cereal bowl and rush over to hug James' waist.

"Thanks dad."

"Anytime," James said, ruffling his eight-year-old's red hair. Sam then ran to the doorway but stopped as he got through it and looked to some corner than James' couldn't see.

"G'night mum!" James heard Sam's bright voice say and then a higher voice answered.

"Night sweetheart," Ellie's voice said. Then after Sam's footsteps had stopped James saw his wife walk in and lean against the doorway. "Pity party over?" Ellie asked happily and James smirked.

"Unless you want to join me?" James asked, standing up and opening his arms wide. Ellie giggled and entered her husband's warm hug. "How long were you standing there for?"

"Long enough," Ellie said, holding tightly onto James. "I couldn't sleep as well, and when I noticed you were gone so I came downstairs and I found you."

"Well congrats for finding me. I feel as though you deserve some kind of award."

"I'll redeem it tomorrow night," Ellie said and James chuckled.

"That sounds fine with me, but I'm tired; let's go to bed," James said. After placing the empty cereal bowls in the sink for tomorrow, Ellie and James turned off the kitchen light and - arms around each other - headed up the staircase and into their bedroom where the both of them fell into a comfortable sleep. Somehow talking to his son had calmed the nervousness in James' body. The next morning was Ellie and James' first taste of life with a Hogwarts child. Violet hadn't packed her trunk the night before which left her scrambling everywhere and throwing items into her trunk. James was busy waking Leah up while Ellie prepared breakfast with Austin and Sam's help although Austin kept dropping everything he picked up which, of course, made Sam start laughing at him.

"Okay, okay! Aus, go help Violet pack before you and Sam start attacking each other," Ellie said firmly as she watched Austin start eyeing Sam furiously.

"You'd better watch your stuff Sam," Ellie heard Austin whisper in Sam's ear before he left the kitchen. Sam looked worriedly after him but Ellie chose to ignore this. Austin usually just said threats like that just to get Sam wound up. Ellie had witnessed it first-hand with her own younger brothers.

"Alright, I've got this monster taken care of!" James announced when he had made it into the kitchen, carrying Leah on his shoulders. Leah was giggling and shaking her head causing her brown hair to move wildly out of her loose ponytail.

"I'm not a monster daddy! I'm a unicorn! I'm gonna be a unicorn when I grow up!" Leah said very loudly once she had been seated at the table. Austin and Violet who had just walked through the door stopped in their steps and burst out laughing. Sam was gaping at his little sister.

"That's my girl," James said, grinning. "You can do it if you try."

"Yeah, good luck Leah!" Violet called as she sat down beside her. The small eleven-year-old was wearing a smile that was a million miles long. She had brushed her black hair until it was set perfectly but Violet had decided to wear her Muggle clothing instead of her robes until she made it on the train. Sam and Austin grabbed the seats across from their sisters and Ellie levitated their breakfast onto the table.

"I can't wait to do that," Violet said longingly as she glanced at her willow wand.

"That'll only take you seven years," James said as he sat down and Ellie mirrored her husband. Violet looked shocked.

"Seven years!?"

"You're learn it this year Violet don't listen to your father," Ellie corrected and James grinned charmingly from across the table at her. Austin was loading up on eggs and Leah had started on finishing her toast.

"What house do you think you'll be in Vi?" Sam asked curiously and took a muffin from Austin's plate earning himself a glare from the latter.

"I don't know. I kind of want Ravenclaw, but Gryffindor sounds okay too," Violet said slowly.

"How about Hufflepuff?" Austin asked, swallowing a huge amount egg. Violet shrugged.

"I don't really care that much, I just want to make sure that I manage to make some friends," Violet said.

"Well said Vi," James said appreciatively. Ellie smiled at him, then glanced down at her watch. There was exactly one hour before they had to reach King's Cross.

"Did you finish packing Violet?" Ellie asked.

"Er- a bit?" Violet said shyly and grinned.

"I thought Austin came up to help you?" Ellie asked, looking over at her oldest son who seemed to cower slightly.

"He did, but all he did was throw things at me while I was trying to pack in peace," Violet said aggressively, glaring at her nine-year-old brother.

"Aus is busted isn't he?" Leah whispered, not so quietly to James and he laughed.

"Oh yeah, he is," James said. Half an hour later Ellie found herself speeding through the streets of London in their 2012 Ford Mondeo. Violet, Austin, Sam and Leah were all buckled in the backseats and James was driving.

"Daddy, how much longer?" Leah whined over the voices of Sam and Austin's loud arguing. Violet was staring out the window serenly, her face seemed to hold some kind of worry.

"Not too much longer Leah, don't worry."

"With your father's driving skills we'll get there really soon," Ellie said, holding onto her seat tightly.

"Ah Ellie, you've just never appreciated the way I drive," James said and Ellie snorted.

"If it wasn't for magic, you would've probably crashed into something already," Ellie said.

"Mum's right, you know," Austin said but James chose to ignore both of them and continued on driving like a maniac down the streets. The family of six arrived at King's Cross at fifteen to eleven; James pushed along Violet's trolley filled with her trunks, bags and her new Tawny owl: Flapjack. Ellie took hold of Leah's hand and let James lead, while Sam and Austin walked behind the group. Once they had reached the barrier Violet looked at her mother.

"Er-"

"Just run through Vi," Ellie said soothingly and she nodded. James handed Violet's trolley back to her and Violet ran forwards. She winced but no collision came. Ellie made sure Leah's hand was tight in hers then ran forwards through the barrier as well. The sight that greeted her was Violet's gaping face as she stared at the scarlet steam engine. James came up behind her with the boys in tow.

"Violet gets to ride on that!?" Austin asked, pointing at the train and James nodded.

"Yep, you will too... in two years."

"Come on Violet, we'll find you a compartment okay?" Ellie asked and Violet tore her gaze away from the steam engine and nodded absentmindedly. James lifted her trunk and placed it on the train with ease, and Ellie took Leah with her as she searched for a compartment. Ellie checked her watch again and realized with a jump that there were only five minutes left until the train left. Luckily there was an empty compartment right in front of them which Violet claimed immediately. James suddenly appeared with Sam and Austin on each side of him.

"We'll see you at Christmas, okay Vi? Have a great term," Ellie said wrapping her arms around Violet in a tight hug, she felt her daughter nod. Leah then took over and leaped at her sister. Violet laughed as she hugged Leah back, and then James took over with his own hugs and kisses. He whispered something to Violet that Ellie didn't hear but sounded suspiciously like "if you need anymore, owl me." Austin gave her a sweet but awkward hug and then Sam had his turn. Sam hugged Violet tightly and muttered something into her ear that made Violet smile. James handed over one of Violet's bags to her and she took it, slung it over her shoulder and grinned brilliantly at her family. Ellie and James had their arms around each other again and Violet could see some tears in her mother's brown eyes. Austin was holding onto Leah's hand this time and Sam was staring at her with a look of longing.

"I'd better get going," Violet said sadly and Ellie swooped in for another hug and kiss, crushing Violet.

"Alright El, you'd better not kill her before her first day," James said gently and Ellie let go.

"See you soon Vi!" Leah screamed through the tears that were leaking out her eyes.

"We love you!" Ellie and James called together as she boarded the stairs that led upwards.

"Just stick with the cousins, we have millions!" Austin yelled and Violet laughed because it was true. The whistle sounded from above and James shut the sliding door, it closed with a snap. Children were leaning out the windows for last goodbyes and kisses. Ellie leaned into James as she saw the train moving out of view, Violet's black hair and brown eyes that were so like James' sliding out of view with it.

"Now who's being the worrying one?" James asked slyly and Ellie wiped the tears away from her eyes.

"Remember when Violet was born, how her was like yours then it turned black?" Ellie asked and James nodded.

"Yeah, but before we go down memory lane let's get the rest of our lot back home before they start a wrestling match," James answered, indicating the rest of their brood. Austin was poking Leah - who had stopped crying - in the waist then looking away when she looked at him, while Sam was laughing at Leah's expression. James lifted Leah into his arms before she could pounce on either of her brothers; Leah stuck her tongue out at them.

"Let's go boys," Ellie said to her sons and they followed her through the barrier again. Fifteen minutes later Ellie was clutching onto her seat as James drove from London back to Reading. Leah had been saying excitedly how much she couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts when a thought hit Ellie.

"What did you give to Vi, before she got on the train?" She asked James curiously.

James took his eyes off the road for a moment and grinned charmingly at Ellie. "That's between me and my daughter, Ellie."

"You know I'll find out anyways," Ellie said, narrowing her eyes and James sighed dramatically over the giggles Leah was making at Austin's funny faces.

"Roxanne stopped by a couple days ago at my office and dropped off some Weasleys' products. They're the newest testers and Rox wanted someone to test them, so I figured who better than Vi? I would've given them to Austin but Violet has a larger area to use them now," James explained.

"Hey dad! I still wanted to use them!" Austin proclaimed as James parked safely in their driveway.

"Now Aus..." James started and Ellie rolled her eyes as she opened her door. Once Ellie left the car James turned to face Austin again. "I saved some just for you, they're in the basement," James said and Austin's face became a grinning mess.

"Thanks dad!" Austin said, jumped out of the car and ran to the front door. Ellie saw Austin hurtle down the stairs that led to the basement from her place in the hallway and knew immediately that James had saved some products for Austin's usage. James came up behind her and wound his arms around her waist, and nuzzled his nose into her neck.

"I'm not an idiot, you know," Ellie said, giggling as James feigned shock.

"I never said you were," James replied. At that moment Austin came up from the basement and looked surprised to see his parents standing in the hallway together.

"Uh - I'm just going - yeah," Austin stuttered, trying to hide the bright purple and orange bag behind his back but it was so big that his trying was fruitless.

"Just no blowing up stuff in the house, and share Sam," Ellie said sternly and Austin looked relieved he hadn't gotten in trouble.

"Will do, mum!" He yelled over his shoulder as he ran calling his brother's name. Ellie turned around, so she was facing into James' face and their eyes met. The hazelish-brown of James' eyes always managed to make Ellie feel beautiful and nervous all at the same time, even after so many years so being married to each other. But like always, whenever she and James tried to get close to each other something or the other interrupted.

"Mummy! Can we play a game?" Leah's voice carried over to Ellie from Leah's spot on the living room floor.

"Dad, Austin's being a moron!" Sam ran into the hallway. "I don't want to test Weasleys' products with him, can we go for a fly instead?"

Austin ran into the hallway next and before talking, mimed vomiting at the position his parents were in. "I'm not being a moron! You're just not appreciative of my ideas," Austin retorted and Sam rolled his eyes. Ellie and James looked at each other again and shared a look that plainly said "tonight" then promptly let go of each other.

"Let's all go for a fly today huh? We'll test out the products tomorrow," James suggested and Sam nodded enthusiastically. "We'll let you play Chaser," James added to Austin who looked quite depressed but brightened up at the sound of Chaser.

"Why don't you three take Leah with you? I'm sure she'd be up for some flying as well," Ellie said as Leah came running into the already crowded hallway.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Leah agreed happily.

"We'll have to fly a bit lower with Leah, but I guess it doesn't matter; there's storm clouds coming this way," James said and Ellie nodded.

"Don't forget to bundle up and be careful!" Ellie said after the four them clambered their way out of the hallway and towards the broom closet. Ellie caught Austin's head shake at her words and Ellie snorted, of course he thought it was a bit stupid of her to say they wouldn't be careful. While the kids got their warmer sweaters on James stared at Ellie.

"And what are you going to be doing?"

"I have some revising to do for next week's issue. I would really love to be out there though," Ellie said longingly and James laughed.

"Then ignore your work and come outside!"

"Just because you ignore all of your paperwork until the day before they're due, doesn't mean I do," Ellie explained, but she was smiling. James kissed her on the lips sweetly and Ellie responded joyfully, when they pulled away, James grinned.

"Wish me luck then,"

"Luck!" Ellie said, kissing James again.

"Ugh, you two are so mushy," Austin said, wrinkling his nose and his parents broke apart again.

"At least it's not in public, remember when we were in Diagon Alley getting Vi's wand?" Sam asked, seeming disgusted and followed his brother down the hallway again.

"I think it's romantic," Leah said and Ellie gave her a grateful smile.

"You wait until you find a beautiful lass to snog all day long," James called after the boys as started to follow them. Ellie looked at Leah for a moment and bent down to the five-year-old's level.

"Win this for Vi, okay?"

"It's in the bag, mummy," Leah confirmed and Ellie laughed. She kissed Leah on her head then straightened up and walked to the study upstairs. James had a desk straight across from her where he had a stack of Auror paperwork waiting for him. The study overlooked their backyard where Ellie could see James spinning around Leah as Austin and Sam threw around a Quaffle. The sky around them was darkening and Ellie knew that James was right about there being a storm coming. Ellie had started working from home a couple of years ago when Leah had been born; it was much easier spending time with the family and working now. She regularly got articles from the journalists at The Daily Prophet to correct and revise. She sat down and pulled an article about some new coming band towards her.

Ellie had just been on her fourth article when the clap of thunder alerted her to the window. She glimpsed James swooping down and running after Sam, Austin and Leah to the house; they made it in before the rain had started. Ellie quickly filed the last ten articles and hurried downstairs to greet her family. James' face was tinged with pink and his hair was ruffled to perfection. Sam was gripping his broom and laughing merrily with his older brother and younger sister. Ellie grinned at all of them.

"How about some late lunch then? Maybe after, if the storm is over we'll go out for some more flying?" Ellie asked and watched the kids agree happily. After putting away their brooms and taking off their extra sweaters the family sat around the kitchen table yet again where James had made some sandwiches.

"Ugh, dad, leave the cooking to mum," Austin complained, staring gloomily at the poorly made sandwiches.

"You're right Aus," Sam agreed and Leah seeing her brothers looking disgusted started to mirror them.

Ellie laughed at James' disgruntled expression. "How about some Muggle take-out then?"

"I want chicken balls!" Sam exclaimed and Austin nodded his head at his brother.

"Yeah!" Ellie went for their telephone - which she had insisted on owning - and started dialing.

"When your mum and I went to Hogwarts, we had brilliant food every single day," James said, stretching in his chair.

"When you and mum went to Hogwarts, the Black Lake was probably still a puddle" Austin muttered and Leah giggled.

After the food had arrived, and everyone had been fed Ellie looked out the window. The rain hadn't stopped, in fact it seemed as though it would never let up. Lightening flashed and then was followed by a huge blast of thunder. James walked up to her and leaned his arm around her shoulders, she smiled at him.

"Sam, you're cheating!"

"Am not! You're just being a moron!"

"MUMMY! Sam called Austin a moron!"

"The quiet was nice while it lasted wasn't it?" James asked, laughing. Ellie turned and yelled towards her children's voices.

"Sam, stop cheating and don't swear!" She yelled and heard the grumbling and satisfied voices minimize their loudness. James laughed again.

"You make such an amazing mother, Ellie."

"You don't make such a bad father either James," Ellie replied, gingerly resting her hand against his cheek. "I love you so much."

"Love you more!" James replied happily.

The next day Ellie woke up in James' arms to the sound of a owl's tapping at their window. She sat up slowly as the memory of her and James' intimate night hit her. Ellie knew the goofy grin was on her face as she walked to the window, opened it and took the letter off the owl's foot. It was only until Ellie saw the owl fly away that she realized it had been Violet's owl: Flapjack. She unraveled the letter and read it through.

_Dear mum, dad, Sam, Aus, and Leah,_

_I was sorted into Gryffindor. The hat told me about that you and dad used to make quite the team, mum. Anyways, I sat on the train with these girls named Megan Kraft, Olivia Rodriguez and Felicity Andrews; Megan's Muggle-born so she had no idea where to sit so Olivia, Felicity and I invited her to sit with us. The hat considered Hufflepuff for me, but then he yelled out Gryffindor instead. I didn't mind, except that Olivia was sorted into Slytherin so that made me kind of sad not to see her, but we promised to stay friends no matter what. Classes are fine I guess. I really love Potions and I think I'm going to love Astronomy tonight. Professor Longbottom's really nice and he told me after class that dad always placed watering cans in places that he would trip over them. Sorry dad, but he figured out your plans. How's everything at home? I hope Sam's not been rooting through my stuff, 'cause if he has I'll send him a strongly worded letter. Tell Austin to bug off when he's being mean to Sam too. And Leah, keep on being your cute self. I have to go now Megan and Felicity say that they want to go relax before our afternoon classes (Transfiguration and Charms). I'm going to get to see Olivia again, since we have Charms with the Slytherins. _

_Love from, Violet. _

_P.S - Can you send me my jumper. I think it's in the top drawer of my dresser; it's the light blue one. Thanks._

James was stirring when Ellie had finished reading through the letter. Ellie shook her husband lightly once but he didn't wake up so she decided to take the easier road. Using her wand Ellie muttered "_Aguamenti_" and a jet of water hit James' face full on. James gave a strangled yell, stumbled out of bed and tried wiping his face off.

"What the hell!" He spluttered.

"You wouldn't wake up," Ellie said simply, but she was grinning.

"That's no reason to almost drown me," James said grumpily. "What's that?" He asked pointing at Violet's letter.

Ellie handed it to him. "Vi got into Gryffindor."

Ellie watched James smirks and small laughs as he read through the letter. "I did set up those traps," he admitted, "but I didn't know Neville knew that I did it!"

"Well, to be honest Jamie-poo, subtlety has never been your strong point."

James smirked at Ellie and placed Violet's letter on the bedside table. "What is my strong point then?"

"Let me show you," Ellie said slyly, glancing at the clock. "There's still a couple hours until the kids usually get up..." But before Ellie could even get another couple words out James' lips were crushed to hers and both of them became oblivious to everything around them except each other.

**In my mind Ellie's mum Patricia was Muggle-born which caused Ellie to grow up with a lot of Muggle appliances and stuff around. And I just had to add chicken balls in there, because they are the best thing in the whole world. :) I added Roxanne into this because she's just so cool, I keep imagining her taking over Weasley's Wizard Wheezes instead of Fred; but Fred still plays a huge part in it don't worry! Right, I named Violet's owl Flapjack because I was just re-watching the O.C and Summer and Seth had a rabbit that had babies and they named one Flapjacks which I thought was just so cute! The next chapter should involve a lot of fighting and a lot of making up, and even more jealousy. What else could it be other than Ellie and James' first real fight? :) Stay tuned faithful readers, and reviews are always lovely. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Chapter fourteen. :) I'm very proud of this chapter and it was probably one of the funnest I've ever written, so I really hope you enjoy it too! I'm not doing any of this for profit, only for my own amusement and your's. I don't own the Harry Potter world, that belongs solely to J.K Rowling and her amazing mind. :) **

Ellie Wood was having a bad day, no, she was having a _dreadful_ day. First of all she had woken up later than usual and when she had finally made it down to the common room James, Fred, and Jovanna had already left for breakfast. Then they had run out of her favorite muffins when she had made it down to the Great Hall, even James' kiss didn't make her feel better. And then as the small group made it's way to History of Magic Peeves decided it was the time to swoop down and drop water balloons on random people's heads. Ellie was the only one who didn't jump out of the way. After two classes dripping in water Ellie was looking forward to lunch (mostly because this was the time where she and James snogged). But instead Fred and James had cooked up some stupid plan and they needed to test something out so they ditched Ellie and Jovanna. Ellie picked at her food for the better part of the lunch hour until Jovanna took pity on her.

"You want to help me out? I need to study some charts."

But Ellie took one look at the large, detailed Divination charts and declined immediately; the last thing Ellie wanted to do was help Jovanna with homework. The girls met up with James and Fred in Herbology class where James whispered that would make it up to her for missing their daily snog. But everything went downhill again in Charms. Ellie loved Charms, it was one of her favorite classes next to Ancient Runes, but today she hated it with a burning passion. And elderly witch was sitting behind Professor Taylor's desk. She had eagle-like eyes and wrinkles galore.

"Where's Professor Taylor?" Fred asked, lifting his hand up. The witch's eyes darted to Fred and she glared at him.

"Her sister is having a baby, so I'm taking over today," the witch barked. "My name is Professor Hardwick. I used to teach here when I was younger."

Ellie saw James mutter something to Fred and then they started snickering quietly. She turned to look at Professor Hardwick, who luckily hadn't seen James and Fred's small exchange. Ten minutes later Professor Hardwick had set them on some really hard charm that even Jovanna was having trouble with. While the students learned it, Professor Hardwick prowled the aisles yelling at rowdy kids. Ellie partnered with James as quick as she could.

"She's scary," Ellie whispered.

"She's more than scary. She's positively horrendous," James confirmed grimly as his watched her stop right beside where Jovanna and Fred were practising. Jovanna sent a frightened look over her shoulder at Professor Hardwick and Ellie felt very sorry for Jovanna at the moment.

"Let's see it then!" Hardwick snapped angrily at Jovanna. Jovanna stuttered slightly but pointed her wand steadily in Fred's direction. Before she could even get the spell out Harwick rolled her eyes and muttered not so quietly.

"That's pathetic. It should never take this long for you to slow down an opponent!"

Jovanna looked as though she was on the verge of tears and before Ellie even knew it she was yelling, backed up by James. "Your freaking Jovanna out! She can't do any spell with you breathing down her back!"

Hardwick turned her narrow eyes upon Ellie and Ellie felt herself recoiling slightly but James was defending her straight away. "Ellie's right! You barely even gave her a chance!" He yelled and Jovanna gave them both grateful grins but it was the furious look on Hardwick's face that Ellie noticed. After class Ellie was fuming yet again and Jovanna, Fred and James were trying everything to get her to calm down.

"That total cow! How dare she take twenty points each from us? And did you see that look on her face while she was yelling!?"

"Ellie we all think she's a total terrible teacher but you seriously need to calm down," Jovanna said soothingly but Ellie wasn't listening. She knew that - as she slammed down the stairs to the Great Hall for dinner - Jovanna, Fred and James were all speaking about her but at the moment Ellie didn't care. Everyone had bad days and right now Ellie wanted to wallow in her own misery. Ellie skipped dinner and instead ran outside and sat down under a tree beside the Black Lake. The sun was just setting and Ellie could see the bright reflection in the lake and the temperature was just perfect but Ellie couldn't see or feel any of it. She just wanted to be depressed all by herself, sadly life never works out the way you plan.

James appeared behind her and sat down. He was holding a two bottles of pumpkin juice in one hand and a small pile of shepard's pie in his other hand; James sat down beside her and grinned sheepishly.

"Misery loves company?"

"Misery loves company that comes bearing food," Ellie replied, greedily taking one of the bottles and two pies. "Thanks James."

"No problem. Is your crappy day over with yet?"

"I think it's coming to a close."

They sat there together in silence, eating and drinking quietly but Ellie loved it that way. James understood her so well that at times it managed to freak Ellie out but not today. Appreciation welled all over Ellie's body and when she had finished the last pie, Ellie leaned against James' chest and listened to his heart beat. It was rhythmic and soothing and sounding so nice. James' citrus smell came over her as well and Ellie let the orange smell into her body gladly. It was perfect, just perfect: James' arm entwined around her shoulders with the cool breeze flying around and Ellie leaning against James' strong chest but something had to ruin it.

"Hi Keiko!" James jubilant voice called and Ellie extracted herself from James to glance around. There was no Keiko Roberts in sight. Then James started to laugh however Ellie couldn't see anything funny at all.

"What the hell was that James?" Ellie yelled, clambering up as she felt her temper flaring inside her. James followed suit and got to his feet.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean!"

"It was a _joke_ Ellie. A _joke_!"

"Well it wasn't funny!" Ellie screamed loudly. Suddenly her whole days anger had exploded out of her and she was letting James take the blame for everything.

"I'm sorry that you're so insecure that you couldn't even handle a small Keiko joke!" James countered and Ellie felt hurt. It felt as though she had been stabbed somewhere in her stomach. James' eyes held something that looked close to regret but he still looked ferocious but at that point in time Ellie didn't care. She didn't care about anything and she wanted to hurt James, she wanted him to feel terrible.

"I'm _not_ insecure! How dare you call me insecure! I hate you James, I hate you so much!" It was the first time that James had caused Ellie to dissolve into tears. Ellie turned on her heel and started to run, she determinedly ignored James' calls.

"Ellie! No - wait! I'm sorry Ellie! Stop!"

But she ignored him, in fact, she ignored everyone until she had reached her bed. Ellie threw herself on it and shoved her face into her favorite pillow. The sobs were escaping her made her feel ashamed and guilty. Ellie knew that she had overreacted and Ellie felt terrible about it but she wouldn't go back and face James. Their relationship was done, and nothing had hurt Ellie more than this. Why had she screamed at him because of a silly, little joke? Why? He had been so sweet and comforted her and she had re-payed him with a argument.

Ellie stayed up in bed for the longest time she could ever remember. Finally Ellie dragged herself out of her gloom to look at her clock. It was 7:12. She and James would have been in their favorite broom cupboard still. This thought made Ellie fall into some newly made tears. It was exactly an hour later that her four roommates decided they needed to come into the dormitory at the same time. Jovanna Michaels, Allison Jordan, Irene Smith and Tabitha Lammers all came barging in through the door. Ellie teared herself off the bed and attempted to wipe away the tears on her face but to no avail. Without speaking to one another they each took seats around Ellie. Tabitha and Irene sat on Jovanna's bed, Allison grabbed the floor as her own and Jovanna sat down on the limited space on Ellie's bed. Ellie sat on her own bed as well: knees drawn up to her chin and arms wrapped tightly around her legs.

"What happened?" Irene asked immediately and Ellie started to tell the story. Luckily, the tears had disappeared which left Ellie able to retell her account without the interruptions of dry sobs.

"I was still pissed off about my day, so I went outside and sat down beside the lake. James came after me and gave me food and stuff. Then we were kind of relaxing together when he made some kind of stupid joke about Keiko Roberts being around! But she wasn't!" Ellie said and she watched Irene gasp as Tabitha stared at her evenly while Allison looked slightly angry still but Jovanna's face held the weirdest expression ever. It seemed as though she looked sort of pleased but Ellie didn't press on that issue for long. "So then I started to kind of yell at him about how it wasn't funny and stuff because everyone knows how much she loves James. Then he said I was just being insecure, so I told him I hated him then I ran away..."

"I-I think you should talk to him Ellie," Tabitha said, quietly and calmly.

"What? No!" Ellie cried.

"You should though El. I mean you kind of overreacted," Allison said slowly, evaluating Ellie's face carefully.

Ellie sighed then gave in. "Your right. But I really don't know how to talk to him or how to get him to talk to me."

"Tomorrow!" Irene said suddenly and they all stared at her except Jovanna who looked as though she was in her own world. "I heard him and Fred Weasley saying they were going to meet up at one o'clock at the Quidditch Pitch to practise some new tactics or something."

"Brilliant Irene!" Tabitha said excitedly and Allison nodded her approval.

"Alright... What do you think about this Jovanna? Jovanna?" Ellie asked her best friend. Jovanna finally came through.

"Yeah, great idea," Jovanna mumbled absentmindedly but offered a small smile in Ellie's general direction. Ellie stared at Jovanna for another couple of seconds but Irene quickly distracted her with a story of how her younger brother and sisters' antics back at home and soon enough the whole dormitory was laughing even Jovanna and Ellie. James was stored at the back of Ellie's brain for the rest of the night, but he kept cropping up in her dreams in different ways.

The next day Ellie woke up at seven o'clock in the morning but she didn't feel like having her dreams plagued by images of James over and over again so Ellie opted for sitting beside the fire reading. Ellie got dressed and grabbed one of Tabitha's old books that she never read anymore and headed downstairs. Before she could stop herself Ellie found herself staring at the boys' staircase where she knew that James was sleeping. Was he dreaming of her? Was he awake? Did he even care anymore?

Ellie shook her head and sat down beside the fire but trying to get her thoughts off James was much easier said than done. It certainly didn't help that the main character in the stupid book she was reading was named Jim. That name was too close to James' in Ellie's opinion. Ellie threw the book onto the small table in front of her furiously.

"Food," Ellie muttered. Nothing could get Ellie's mind of something better than food. The corridors were almost empty but Ellie didn't notice. The Great Hall had about ten Gryffindors, seven Slytherins, ten Hufflepuffs and five Ravenclaws already eating. Ellie sat alone and tried eating some eggs and yet they somehow made her feel nauseous. _'Damn it, James. I can't even eat because you you!' _Ellie cursed in her head, she could almost hear James' laughter but it was James' laughter. Ellie whipped around and to her utter horror Ellie saw James walk into the Great Hall with Keiko Roberts hanging on his arm and laughing at some random joke. Ellie could feel tears sprouting but she willed herself to hold them back. James didn't see her, or if he did, he ignored Ellie completely because at that very moment Keiko did the one thing Ellie knew she had always wanted to do: kiss James Potter.

Ellie was on her feet instantly and she was running out the door not even bothering to look at James anymore. Keiko's laugh followed Ellie as she ran. Ellie had no idea where she wanted to go but anywhere was better than where James was. She did not know how she made it up to the Astronomy Tower but nevertheless she did. Ellie sat beside the railing, letting her feet dangle over the edge. She had a million feelings going through her and Ellie couldn't figure out which one she felt the most until she had decided that it was the betrayed and hurt feelings that dominated. It felt as though the floor around her feet that supported her and made her confident had just broken and all that was left were splinters.

The sun was rising steadily right in front of Ellie's eyes as she watched the Giant Squid's tentacles hit the water causing a tidal wave of water to come flying. The water came back down into the lake with a large splash and Ellie smiled slightly. It was then that Ellie came to a resolution. She quickly got onto her feet.

_'I don't need James to make me happy. I'm not going to be some dependent damsel in distress,'_ Ellie thought disgustedly. _'If James wants to date other people, then I will too!' _

And then she was flying up and down the staircases, running through the corridors and jumping over trick steps until she reached the one person she needed to see. Fred Weasley was sitting in the corner of the common room talking merrily to Allison Jordan.

"Fred!" Ellie called and he walked over to where Ellie stood in front of the portrait hole.

"What's up?"

"I need to know who is the one boy here that James hates."

"Why?" Fred asked suspiciously.

"Please Fred!"

"Alright! Uh- there's Derek Davies?" Fred suggested.

Ellie shook her head. "No."

"Alexander Nott?"

"That tall Slytherin? He's really nice! Why doesn't James like him?" Ellie asked surprised. Fred looked slightly embarrassed.

"James overheard him telling his mates that he wanted to ask you out," Fred mumbled quietly and Ellie knew she was beaming.

"Thanks Fred!" Ellie yelled over her shoulder, as she ran back out the portrait hole again leaving Fred's astonished face behind. _'Perfect! If James wants Keiko then I want Alexander,' _Ellie thought slyly. She was not going to go around moping over a stupid boy, oh no, she was going to get even. Alexander Nott was a good-looking sixth-year. He didn't have a lot of friends since he preferred to be alone, but he was also a really kind person. In her third-year he had helped her up when she had tripped while James and Fred laughed themselves silly. Ellie hadn't noticed it before but Alexander did seem to stare at her a lot when she wasn't looking.

"If only I had that stupid map James always talks about," Ellie muttered to herself angrily. "Then I could find him."

Ellie turned around and rammed head-first into the one boy she as looking for. Alexander Nott was grinning down at her with a confident ease, his curly black brown hair was set in the perfect places and his shiny blue eyes practically glowed. Ellie wasn't even remotely interested in him, but if he would make James jealous then he would do. He steadied her on her feet as Ellie wobbled a little.

"Careful there Eleanor," he said smoothly.

"How are you Alexander?" Ellie asked, trying to not get angry over the use of her full name.

"Fine, I've just finished my homework. How are you and Potter?"

Ellie was careful to hid the smile creeping on her face. She arranged her face to look sad and angry. "We're broken up, at least, I think we are."

She didn't miss the happy gleam in Alex's eyes.

"That's too bad. Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm okay now."

They started walking along in silence towards the Great Hall where Ellie knew James was. If everything worked out right-

"I was thinking, now that your single again, if you'd like to be my girlfriend?"

Oh yes, everything worked out right. Ellie grinned radiantly at Alexander then she looked around. They were in the Great Hall now, and she could see James out of the corner of her eye staring at them. Keiko was with him.

"I'd love to Alex!" Ellie squealed happily. She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the lips. He wasn't that great of a kisser, nothing like James of course, but Ellie didn't really care. Alex tasted like cinnamon and cherries. Ellie wasn't exactly a huge fan of cherries but, again, she didn't really care. They broke apart slower than Ellie would've liked. Alex was grinning around and seemed to be really pleased with himself as Ellie looked at James. He was angry and looked as though he needed to throw something.

"Do you want to go out for a walk?" Alex asked.

"Just let me get my jacket," Ellie replied. She was about to run out and get it when she figured she might as well add on. Ellie kissed Alex again with more passion. "Meet me by the lake. Under that big tree."

He nodded with a stupid grin on his face and Ellie started for the common room without looking back at James. She had made it up three flights of stairs when she got cut off by the one person that she didn't really want to see.

"What the hell was that all about!?" James yelled and Ellie narrowed her eyes at him.

"What was what about?"

"You and Nott! You don't even like him! You hate how he calls you Eleanor!"

"Maybe I do!" Ellie yelled back, anger flashing in her eyes. "Besides it's not like you aren't having a fun time with Keiko!"

James looked as though he was about to say something but quickly veered off course. "Yeah, I am having fun with her!"

"Good! Well, I'll just have fun with Alex then!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Ellie glared at James and he glared at her for another second before he brushed past her furiously. Ellie stomped off as well but she wasn't feeling as well as she had a couple minutes ago. That as the first time they had been that close together since their first row. She wanted to run after him and make up and start snogging like mad but that wasn't going to happen anymore. Ignoring everyone that she went by Ellie grabbed her jacket, put it on and hurried down to the lake. Alex was standing underneath the tree that James had comforted under, she suddenly felt sick and disgusted but Alex had already seen her and was waving her over.

Once Ellie had made it to Alex's side he took her into his arms and hugged her tightly. Ellie felt uncomfortable, it was different and weird to be hugged by someone other than James. Alex smelled differently too. It wasn't the smell of oranges that Ellie had come to love but the smell of a forest. It wasn't a bad smell just a smell that Ellie didn't quite enjoy. She and Alex spent another two hours by the lake. Ellie found out a lot about him: how he wanted to work in the Ministry when he grew up, what kind of food he likes best, and a lot about his family. She tried to avoid kissing at all costs since James wasn't around but Alex still managed to get some small kisses in.

That night, after she had said goodnight to Alex, Ellie met up with Fred and Jovanna both of whom were looking at her anxiously. "What?" Ellie asked exasperatedly at all the staring she was receiving.

"Where's James?" Jovanna asked and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"How should I know?" Ellie snapped, hiding behind her Charms textbook. "He's probably snogging Keiko in some empty classroom."

"It's not like your any better Ellie. You're off snogging Alexander Nott in public," Fred muttered. Ellie shut her book angrily and glared at him.

"It's not my fault that James is a total jerk and won't apologize," Ellie said.

Jovanna seemed as though she was fighting with herself for a moment but it passed. "You miss him Ellie."

"_Miss him_? Ha! I don't miss him," Ellie lied.

"He's really boring without you," Fred informed her and Ellie grinned inwardly. "He's always talking about you and stuff. It gets really annoying after a while."

"Well, that's too bad for him b-because I'm happy with Alex and I know he's happy with Keiko," Ellie replied scathingly. The portrait hole opened at that moment and James walked in. His hair was tousled up as usual but this time it looked as though he had actually been off for a fly since he cheeks were pinched with pink. Ellie knew she was staring and she quickly tore her gaze away from him, but he had already seen her looking. "I'm going to bed," Ellie said hastily, gathered her books and bounded up the stairs to her dorm. Before shutting the dormitory door Ellie looked behind her and to her immense surprise caught James' eyes still staring at her. He was at the bottom of the boys' staircase when their eyes locked.

Again Ellie was overtaken with an urge to throw herself at James and forgive everything that had happened in between them but Ellie turned around instead and slammed the dormitory door shut. 'I love you James!' kept repeating over and over again in Ellie's mind and try as hard as she might Ellie couldn't get it out. Hours later Ellie fell into an uneasy sleep. Her dreams were littered with signs of her and James' relationship and James himself. Ellie woke at nine o'clock on Sunday and her memories still held James inside them. The dormitory was almost empty save for Jovanna who was still searching through her trunk for some article of clothing.

"I can't find my skirt! The blue one. Do you know where it is?" Jovanna asked Ellie once she witnessed Ellie rouse herself.

Ellie shook her head. "Ask Tabitha."

"That's right!" Jovanna said, slapping her forehead. "I lent it to her last week. Thanks El!" Silence flooded the room as Ellie pushed the palms of her hands into her eyes gently. Little stars popped up like fireworks in the pitch black background. Ellie let her hands fall to her sides as the darkness faded and Jovanna's critical face came into full view.

"What?" Ellie asked.

"You'll be okay if I leave you alone?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "I'm not suicidal Jovanna." Ellie said angrily, "besides I'm meeting up with Alex today."

"Well, alright but let's meet up for lunch okay? Isaac said he has some stupid club to go to so I need the company."

"Sure, now go start Mission Skirt Retrieval."

Jovanna laughed then left the room and Ellie was left by herself. She knew for a fact that Isaac didn't have any clubs today but she did appreciate Jovanna's tries. Ellie flopped back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Alex was meeting her today and they were going for a walk around the grounds. Something about their relationship made Ellie feel guilty and she guessed it was something to do with the fact that she was only using Alex to make James jealous. Alex was a great guy but he didn't compare to James. James was confident and egotistic and funny while Alex wasn't very confident in anything, humble and much too serious but Alex was doing a very thorough job of creating some jealousy.

Ellie got up, stretched and got dressed before heading downstairs to the Great Hall. After she had sat down Ellie realized that Alex wasn't there yet but James was. He was sitting at the Ravenclaw table entertaining Keiko and some of her friends with some jokes. James kept glancing towards the entrance but when he had found Ellie something happened that made anger and envy mix together in Ellie's body. James grabbed Keiko in his arms, dipped her and kissed her. White hot anger was pulsing through Ellie's veins and she couldn't hear anything but the pounding in her own ears. The Great Hall had gone very silent (even the teachers) when James pulled away and the bystander's eyes darted from James to Ellie and back to James. Their eyes locked again and James gave her a challenging expression. Keiko's face was exceptionally red and confused but she looked radiant and it pained Ellie to think that she, Ellie, used to look that way when James kissed her that way.

Everyone in the Great Hall suddenly turned their eyes upon the entrance and Ellie followed their gaze. Alex was walking through the door looking amused and when he saw Ellie, he gave a huge grin and opened his arms wide. Without even giving a conscious thought Ellie hurtled herself into Alex's arms and met his lips. She wanted to make James feel envious and horrible like she had. Alex responded with enthusiasm and when they broke apart you could have heard a pin drop in the Great Hall. Ellie looked at James and felt satisfaction as she saw his mouth fall open in shock. For some unknown reason Ellie saw plain hurt obvious on Keiko's pale face.

"Eleanor, do you think we could go talk for a moment?"

Alex's more than usual serious tine surprised Ellie but she agreed. After throwing another happy glare at James, she followed Alex out of the Great Hall. They walked in silence towards the dungeons where finally Alex turned to stare Ellie down.

"I think I know what you're doing Eleanor," Alex said seriously and Ellie saw something stormy cross Alex's blue eyes.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Ellie asked but she already knew the answer.

"You are only using me to make Potter jealous," he replied quickly.

Ellie tried to look ashamed but she couldn't manage it. "I-I'm sorry Alex."

"I understand," Alex said calmly. "And so does Keiko."

"Keiko?" Ellie asked, surprised.

"Yes, we're not idiots you know Eleanor. We met yesterday and talked about it."

"But we've only been together for barely three days!" Ellie cried.

"Keiko and I agree that life was better when you two were together. I believe it's in everyone's best interest if you and Potter get back together Eleanor."

Ellie could see that Alex didn't like to say those words but he offered her a grim smile.

"He still loves you Elea- Ellie," Alex said slowly and Ellie felt hot tears but she held them back. "As do you, I can see."

Ellie pulled Alex into her arms and hugged him tightly, trying to put many unsaid things into the hug.

"You'll meet someone Alex, don't worry okay? I don't deserve you. You deserve some sophisticated, beautiful woman instead of a immature, red-headed girl like me," Ellie said and Alex smiled slightly.

"Thank you Ellie. James is waiting for you. Keiko promised to bring him under that big tree near the lake," Alex instructed carefully. "Go, Ellie."

Ellie nodded but she gave Alex another tight hug and for good measure kissed him on the cheek lightly in thanks and then she was running up the stairs and in the direction of the Entrance Hall. She barreled out the door and ran down the small hill where she spotted James' figure pacing underneath the huge tree.

"James!" Ellie yelled.

James heard her, looked up and started running to her as well. Together, as one, they crashed together and underneath the high sun, wind and nature their lips collided deeply and passionately. It felt simply incredible to be in James' arms again, to smell his smell, to feel his touch, to just have him again. Her hands knotted themselves in his hair and he wrapped his strong arms around her to lift her up and for a moment Ellie had forgotten her name. Finally they broke apart but they still held each other close, both of them not wanting to let each other go for this was the first time in days that they had held each other this close.

"I'm sorry James. So sorry for everything. I shouldn't have overreacted like that-" Ellie started apologizing but James cut her off.

"No, it was my fault. I'm such an idiot Ellie. I'm really sorry," James said quickly. Ellie loved feeling his breath tickle her face as he apologized. She kissed him again, softer this time, but no less ardent.

"I love you James," Ellie whispered when they broke apart again.

"I love you more Ellie," he replied and Ellie realized she had never felt so happy in her whole life. She was practically glowing. "Keiko never kissed as well as you Ellie."

Ellie laughed for the first real time in days. "Alex was never up to your standards either James," she said.

Their lips met again with more fury than before and they stayed that way, for a long time, holding each other still marveling with the fact that they were finally back together. The sun beat down on them and drowned them in it's rays and yet the couple was oblivious to everything that wasn't each other. Even when the Giant Squid had started to come up for it's afternoon splashing neither of them cared that they had gotten soaked. Ellie was in love and nothing could _ever_ take her away from James ever again. Life was good and Ellie hoped life would stay that way.

**There you are. ;) I really loved writing this one because it wass really nice to have some alternate snogging partners for Ellie and James instead of always themselves. I kind of redeemed Keiko's character here which is something that I really wanted to do but Ellie is always going to dislike Keiko and James will always disfavor Alex; it's just the way they've grown up. I really feel bad for what I did to Alex and Keiko though, since both of them really liked Ellie and James respectively. Oh well, next chapter will involve some romantic scenes from James and some more kissing action. :) Reviews are lovely! **


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm sorry you had to wait this long for the next part but school has – unfortunately- taken me over. I've gotten bombarded with homework left and right, clubs and teams are coming back full swing and my favourite TV shows are starting up again! I've set this story up by placing Ellie and James' most memorable moments together and the reason I'm switching back and forth between school days and marriage and engagement is because I just prefer to write this way for once. **

_Ellie,_

_Monday I leave for __Auror __Training abroad and I figured we needed to spend some time alone, at least, without your brother breathing down my neck. As much as I love the fact that Jason admires me it gets a tad bit bothersome when we are trying for some privacy. So, pack up all your __girly __things because we are going on a road trip. Together, you and I will travel through the world using such things as brooms, and __apparation __wrecking havoc and chaos wherever we find ourselves. Since our parents know all about our whole engagement and all those other terribly romantic impulsive details I think we should be able to leave without too many distractions._

_Meet me in our tree house at exactly one o'clock tomorrow sharp. Try not to be too late 'kay? Oh yeah, try to eat a big breakfast. Your abnormally large stomach might disturb our moments._

_Love, James_

As Ellie levitated her bag full of her "girly" things towards the tree house she read over the letter again. A sense of excitement and love filled her up to the brim, to the point that she was positively tingling. Ellie had been wearing her engagement ring every single day. She and James had been spending their days together sometimes joined by Fred or Jovanna but usually alone. Fred had met a beautiful woman named Annissa a couple of days ago and he had instantly asked her out. She had accepted it as a pity date but she soon found out that Fred was her "other half". Jovanna had traveled around right after school and during that time she had become friends with a man called Thomas; Jovanna had been spending her entire days and nights with him and Ellie suspected that they would be becoming more serious soon. She was currently in Scotland.

The wooden tree house was now in sight and Ellie grinned once she saw James' figure leaning against the trunk of the tree. She quickly shoved the letter into her the pocket of her jean shorts and placed her bag around her shoulders securely. She really didn't feel like running since the heat was unbearable today but Ellie did it anyways. James noticed her already and he opened his arms wide; he was beaming and once she had jumped into his arms their lips met.

"I really hate the sun," Ellie muttered when they had broken apart.

"Ellie, you hate everything," James replied easily and Ellie laughed.

"Except you, right?"

"Nobody could hate me, Ellie," James said arrogantly but he was joking.

"Yeah, yeah," Ellie rolled her eyes. "Can we go jump in a lake or something? I feel like I need to rip off my clothes," Ellie said and gestured to her shorts, green t-shirt and black sneakers.

"Nobody's stopping you," James said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively and Ellie hit his arm playfully.

"Shut up James."

James laughed and hugged her close to him, letting the smell of her dark, red hair into his body. Ellie's hair smelt like apricots and chocolate. Her small body was entangled in his and Ellie loved their connection more than James. "Want to find out Phase One of the weekend plan?" James whispered into Ellie's ear and he saw her face break into a smile.

"Only if it involves water that I can jump into," she replied.

"That'll give too much away if I tell you what you're getting into," James said. "Just trust me 'kay?"

Ellie rolled her eyes again. "James, you idiot, I trust you with my life."

"Good. Now take this and just keep close to me," James said, thrusting her broom into her hands. He picked up his own backpack and slung it around both shoulders then sat down on his own broomstick. Ellie was staring at her broom confusedly. "What? Have you got a problem with flying?" James teased, seeing her uneasy look.

"James I don't know if this has slipped your mind but I'm a Wood remember?" Ellie asked, losing her uneasy look and transforming it into a smart look of confidence.

"I remember, don't worry. Just don't throw yourself at me when we're trying to fly, okay Ellie?" James said obnoxiously, winked at her and then kicked off into the air. Ellie glared at James who was hovering in the air, grinning widely at his fiancée. Ellie saddled her broomstick and then kicked off as well.

She felt the wind in her hair as she sped after James. It cooled her down immensely but she still felt the heat from the sun hit the top of her head. Her broomstick handled very well and suddenly Ellie was thankful that her father had insisted that the whole family have the latest model broomsticks (except her mum, who had always hated flying). The Lightening Bolt 3000 was Ellie's choice. It was sleek, shiny and fast: everything that Ellie admired in a broomstick. James turned around to face her from where he flew and pointed upwards with his finger; Ellie realized that he was trying to show that he wanted them to go higher. She nodded to show understanding and moved her broom higher; they were almost up in the clouds at that point. James, on the other hand, preferred the latest version of the Nebula. He had always said he liked manoeuvring more than being fast.

It took another ten minutes before Ellie realized that James was slowly descending. Ellie mirrored him. In a matter of seconds Ellie saw the ground materialising underneath them, and watched James touch down lightly. Seconds later Ellie had touched upon the hard ground. James instantly took her broom out of her hand and waved his wand at both their brooms. They had suddenly vanished.

"Where'd you send it?"

"Where we're heading to last."

Ellie stared at him suspiciously. James laughed and pulled her in for a bear hug. Ellie's face was crushed against James' chest but his masculine smell was intoxicating. He smelt incredible and it was all Ellie could do not to pounce on him. "Want to go swimming?"

James' voice snapped Ellie out of her weird trance and she looked around for the first time. They were in a small clearing where a clear, unpolluted lake was sitting. It was quite large, and was a lovely blue color. Trees surrounded the northern end while the southern end (where Ellie and James were standing) was filled with flowers. Violets, to be exact. Ellie looked back at James to see he was smirking with a satisfied quality.

"Yeah," Ellie replied, "I want to go swimming."

She extracted herself from James and swung her rucksack onto the ground. After combing through all the random items she finally pulled out a two piece bathing suit that she had gotten as a present from Jovanna.

"Don't peek," Ellie said, her brown eyes narrowing.

"Don't you trust me?"

"'Course I trust you, that's why I'm telling you not to peek!" Ellie said smugly and ran towards the cluster of trees.

"Ellie that makes no sense!" James yelled after her.

"Exactly!" Ellie yelled back from her place behind the trees the she focused on changing. In two minutes flat she was out of clothes and into her black bathing suit and placed her red hair into a loose ponytail. Grabbing her clothes in a bundle she found her way back to where James stood, somehow already changed into his swimming trunks. Ellie threw her clothes onto her bag (but placed her engagement ring safely inside the magic pocket in her backpack) and grinned at James. His eyes were roaming her body freely finally coming to a stop on her chest. Ellie smiled inwardly and decided to turn James' attention onto something else.

"Ready?"

"I've been ready for a while now El."

Ellie's hand wound itself around James' hand. They started running together and jumped at the same time, falling into the lake with a loud _splash_. Their hands disconnected when they hit the surface. The water felt amazing against the sweltering heat and Ellie hadn't ever felt so thankful for water. The lake wasn't too deep but it was kind of rocky at the bottom. Ellie's head came spluttering out of the water where she found James giving a toothy grin at Ellie.

"Watch this," he said. James swam onto the edge off the lake and pushed himself up then ran for the thicket of trees. Ellie watched him climb the closest one and crouch down on the branch that overlooked the lake.

"James, you'll kill yourself!"

James only rolled his eyes. "Just watch!"

He stood up and looked somewhat wobbly since the branch was slightly on the thin side. Nevertheless, James threw another confident smile at Ellie before doing a spectacular flip into the water. Ellie gaped for a second and then started to swim over to where James was now coming up for air.

"You're such a show-off!" Ellie yelled at James when she reached him and he laughed.

"All for you Ellie!"

"You don't need to show-off for me James. I already love you," Ellie said softly.

"Tell me something I don't know," James grinned. Ellie glared at him.

"You always manage to ruin a nice moment don't you?" Ellie asked wearily and he laughed again. The sound of it made Ellie feel calm, and at ease.

"I wouldn't be myself if I didn't ruin moments," he said happily. "One day, I won't kill a moment, I promise."

"Good," Ellie muttered, moving closer to James and winding her arms around his neck. "Try not to mess up this one."

Suddenly James' lips were upon hers. James hair was soaked but Ellie loved it, the feeling of having him in her arms, the sensation of his soft skin on hers. The strong arms that Ellie had come to love were tight and secure around her waist. And then the couple was underwater. Their hair was floating and spiralling around in the water like seaweed but Ellie wasn't thinking about anything. It was as if her brain had turned off. James started to lift Ellie higher and once they had penetrated the surface of the water, and let go of each other she realized how breathless she really was.

"Amazing," Ellie said, trying to catch her breath.

"Y-yeah."

She and James stayed in the lake for another hour. Nothing disturbed them save for some birds chirping and the slight breeze that rustled the green leaves in the surrounding trees. Once they had gotten out of the water, taken off their bathing suits, placed their clothes on, and dried themselves off it was already three o'clock. James' hair was moving slightly in the wind and his brown eyes were shining with a sense of excitement and happiness. Ellie was also gleeful as she placed her engagement ring back onto her finger. She saw James' face light up every time she placed the ring on.

"Grab onto my arm."

"Why?"

"'Cause we need to apparate stupid," James said. Ellie stuck her tongue out at him, grabbed her backpack and took hold of James' right arm. James spun on the spot and Ellie felt the horrible, choking sensation that she so hated. But it was gone as quickly as it had come. Ellie let go of James' arm and looked around. They were standing on a deserted road in the middle of a field. The only thing there was a small house that held a creepy, cold look.

"Where are we?"

"In the middle of nowhere," James said mysteriously, but he was smirking.

"Seriously, James."

"We're near Norwich," he complied and started walking towards the forgotten building.

"Why are we going inside?" Ellie asked curiously, hitching her bag up higher and running to catch up with James.

"It's the next stop," James replied easily, winking at Ellie. She followed him, slightly enthralled but slightly suspicious as well. The couple climbed up the four steps together - each of the steps gave off a loud creaking noise - and then James knocked three times. There was a weird grinding noise and then the door was pulled open and a small, greying lady was standing in the doorway smiling.

"Oh James! You're much later than I expected. Your room's ready," she said kindly pulling him in quite forcefully for a lady her age. Ellie followed behind him and heard the door shutting behind her as the grinding noise sounded off again. "This is Ellie then?"

Ellie turned around and looked at the lady. She smiled again and Ellie returned it warmly. "You're much more beautiful then what James described."

"Mrs Tilehurst! You know that my describing skills were never up to par," James said and wrapped an arm around Ellie who could feel her face letting a blush come up. "Ellie, meet Agatha Tilehurst. She owns this charming place."

"Pleasure to meet you Mrs Tilehurst. I'm-"

"Don't worry, dear, about introductions. James had already told me who you are and all the other romantic details. He rambled on quite a bit," Mrs Tilehurst commented wryly, looking at James. Her warm blue eyes hovered from Ellie's face to James' with a knowing look.

"Alright, before you go revealing my secrets we'll be on our way to our room," James said, grinning.

"Whoops! Here you are dears," Mrs Tilehurst said, pulling out a room key and handing it to James.

"Why can't we just use magic to open the door?" Ellie asked.

"The doors here are invincible to _Alohomora_," Mrs Tilehurst explained and Ellie nodded. "Well, you two have a wonderful time. If you need me, well, you know what to do..."

Mrs Tilehurst scurried away and Ellie had her first proper view of the room they were in. It was a huge contrast to what the building looked like from the outside. The room was painted a dark burgundy and had a royal feeling. There was a silver staircase that led up to a door which was closed at the moment. There were three large doors all heading in different directions. People were coming in and out of the doors, some wearing a uniform while others were wearing casual clothes.

"How did you find this place?"

"Jovanna," James said simply. "She said that her grandparents had met here. It was all so sickeningly romantic that I thought you'd like it."

"You thought right," Ellie confirmed happily. James laughed and took her hand. He led her up the staircase and through the door which Ellie found led to a hallway filled with doors. They went down the hallway to the left and reached a door with the number 717 on it. James shoved the key into the key-hole and pulled the door forwards. The room that greeted them was simply gorgeous. Royal blues, lush reds and shiny gold filled the room with warmth and colour. There were two king-sized beds beside each other, both looking extremely comfortable. Artistic painting covered the walls, but for some unknown reason they were all Muggle paintings.

"Why don't the pictures move?" Ellie asked James as he let her bag fall onto the floor.

"Mrs Tilehurst likes non-moving paintings much more than moving ones. She's quite weird like that."

"Oh," Ellie whispered. "This place is wicked James."

"You haven't seen anything yet Ellie," James replied, grinning. He took her hand and led her towards the balcony doors that Ellie hadn't noticed. They stepped out onto a large terrace. It overlooked an enormous garden that was home to different species of plants. There was a pool towards the back with a handful of twisted water slides. The sun was beginning to descending slightly as it covered the whole garden in an orange glow. Ellie squealed lightly and jumped onto James. He stumbled back half a step but steadied himself enough to start laughing.

"You're brilliant!"

"Yeah, I know," James said happily. He kissed the top of Ellie's head and she knew that she was glowing enough to rival the sun.

Ellie and James spent another hour up in their room, exploring the nooks and crannies. Ellie found their brooms inside the wardrobe. James' stomach began rumbling at quarter to seven so they headed down the stairs and into a cozy room that had plates of food on a long table. After stuffing their faces on numerous amounts of delicious cuisine James took Ellie to the backyard.

"How come Muggles can't see this place?"

"It's got some kind of special charm on it," James explained.

The sun was dipping behind the tall hedges as the darkness and stars began to cover the sky like a blanket. Hand-in-hand they walked the length of the yard, finally stopping in a secluded corner where no other witch or wizard would be able to spot them. Ellie got down onto the grass and let herself lay out comfortably as James did the same beside her. They lay in silence until the sky was totally void of any sign of the bright sun for the moon had taken over the sun's place as a beacon of light.

"I'm going to miss you," Ellie whispered, turning over onto her side to glance at James.

"I'll send letters, don't worry," James consoled as he also turned over to smile at Ellie.

Ellie stared at the man who was to be her husband. He always looked effortlessly gorgeous but even more so tonight. Tonight. Tonight was the night. She turned her head up to look at the stars.

"Third-year."

"Huh?" James asked, confused.

"Third-year," Ellie repeated. "It was the year I started liking you as more than a friend. I think it started when I saw you help that little first-year that was getting bullied. It really hit me hard; you were really kind to that boy James."

She glanced at James again and saw his smile had become somewhat lop-sided.

"It was fourth-year for me. When you first walked into our compartment on the train. I think it was the first time I noticed how pretty you were. Not that you weren't always pretty," James added hastily and Ellie giggled. She curled herself into James' chest and let out a sigh of contentment. "And then it started to elevate from there. When I saw how perfect you were."

"James, I'm not perfect!" Ellie said.

James shrugged. "In my eyes you were. That's why I'm always able to get over your really bad habits and quirks."

There was silent moment filled with crickets chirping their song.

"I love you," Ellie mumbled and James grinned.

"Love you more."

Ellie kissed him tenderly on the lips. When she pulled away James was staring at her with something that Ellie couldn't quite place hidden in his eyes. Their eyes met: the steady colours of brown mixing together beautifully. Then, almost at the same time, both Ellie and James moved together capturing each others lips passionately. Ellie rolled on top of James and in that instant she knew that what she knew was going to happen _was_ going to happen. Ellie tore her lips from James reluctantly.

"James I want to show you how much I love you," Ellie whispered fiercely.

"Bloody hell! Are you sure?" James asked but Ellie knew he wanted this as much as she did, maybe even more than she did.

"I've never been surer in my life," Ellie confirmed. James' responded with a passionate, steamy kiss. She heard herself moan with pleasure as the kiss became more ardent.

Ellie had no idea how they managed to stand up, let alone make it up the staircase and into their bedroom: but they did. Their lips never parted once. The bed was squishy and comfy as Ellie was lowered onto it by James' strong arms. She practically ripped off James' shirt as James pulled Ellie's t-shirt up over her head. Ellie's red hair was now totally messed up but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except the love that she and James shared in between themselves. James took off Ellie's bra with surprising ease but Ellie was too focused of undoing James' belt to notice. It was fascinating to be exploring new regions of each other and Ellie couldn't believe she had ever wanted to wait.

There was a burning passion in that room as Ellie and James' naked bodies moved together in a kind of sensual dance.

Hours later Ellie woke up to James' stupidly grinning face. He looked marvellous. His short, dark, auburn hair was splayed out more than usual and Ellie grinned knowing she was the reason for it.

"What are you staring at?" She asked happily moving to a more comfortable position on James' chest and pulling the bed covers up higher.

"Just admiring the curtains," James said jokingly and Ellie laughed. "That was unbelievable."

"I can't believe I wanted to wait," Ellie gasped.

"Nah, Ellie," James said. "You did the right thing. It's better like this."

Silence filled the room again until Ellie broke it.

"James?"

"Hmm?"

"Did I ever tell you I loved you?"

"You may have mentioned it once or twice."

Ellie listening to the rhythmic beating of James' heart. He was leaving tomorrow. That thought hit Ellie hard, and she knew that it was time to let everything go because right now she and James were total equals.

"Don't fall for some kind of gorgeous Auror woman okay? Or else-"

"Calm down El," James said, cutting off the rest of Ellie's threat. "Ever since we started dating I've started to see every single other woman in an, er, unflattering fashion. They all look like they have a thousand eyes and tentacles."

"Even Jovanna?"

"She's the nastiest one of the lot."

Ellie laughed. "You always know how to make me feel better."

"It's one of my many talents," James said, squeezing Ellie reassuringly. "While we're on the topic, can you try not to have some kind of raging affair with a mild-mannered reporter?"

Ellie laughed again remembering that she and James had watched a Superman movie about a week ago. She tilted her head to look up into James' face. His face held no sign of seriousness. "It'll be hard but I'm sure I can do it."

Birds were singing outside their window and Ellie was astonished to realize she had never appreciated how beautiful birds really were. The window sill was very shiny this morning, yet another thing that Ellie hadn't noticed. She looked around the room to find more underappreciated things until she saw that the second bed had disappeared.

"James? Where's the bed?"

"Maybe you're the one who needs glasses. We're laying on it right now Ellie, you see?"

Ellie glared at him. "Don't play stupid. Where's the second bed?"

James looked around the room, avoiding Ellie's eyes. Then he muttered something that sounded a lot like 'it was never there'. Ellie's brown eyes narrowed in anger.

"_It was never there!?_" She shrieked. "You knew that we were going to-"

Truthfully Ellie didn't know if she was angry or happy but since she had already started to yell she might as well stick with it. James scrambled out of the bed and Ellie sat up, still glaring at him.

"Ellie! You can't deny that you didn't want this as well. I know you Ellie; I knew that you would want to take it to the next level," James said confidently and Ellie felt anger heat up as she saw James' smug smirk but all that anger had dissolved into embarrassment by a simple sentence. "See Wood? You want me."

Ellie became flustered that James had noticed her eyes raking over his body. "I – We're engaged I think I'm allowed to look at you," she said firmly. James laughed and slowly made his way to Ellie's side. "I'm still mad at you," she huffed.

James grinned. "No, you're not."

"Fine!" Ellie cried and slammed her arms against the covers hard but she was smiling. "I'm not angry. Are you happy?"

"Yes, yes I am," James said easily. The next thing Ellie knew James had pounced on the bed and had her wrapped in a bear-hug. They rolled around wrapped in the red covers until James had Ellie pinned underneath him. "I love you," he said.

Ellie laughed and leaned upwards to kiss him. "Morning breath Jamie," she said, sticking her tongue out when they had stopped kissing.

"Your breath doesn't smell like a freshly picked daisy either El," James countered and kissed the top of Ellie's forehead lightly. "Want to get some breakfast?"

"As long as it involves lots and lots of food I'm in," Ellie said excitedly. As if on cue Ellie's stomach rumbled at the exact time that James' stomach made a loud gurgling noise. In an instant they newly engaged couple fell into hysterical laughter.

It took roughly an hour for the two of them to make it out of bed, get dressed, and stop laughing. Ellie glimpsed the clock on her way to breakfast and saw it was eight in the morning. The building was starting to wake as more people began filing through the hallways throwing greetings around. It appeared that James knew almost every person they passed on their way down.

"Morning Henry!" James had said when they had passed a short, bearded man on his way to the loo.

"How do you know all these people?" Ellie asked, as she cleared the stairs and began on the route to the breakfast hall. James pretended not to hear her. Mrs Tilehurst stepped in between the door to breakfast and them and gave a kind smile.

"You have a letter dear," she said and pulled a piece of parchment out of her apron.

"Thank you, Mrs Tilehurst," Ellie said, taking the letter.

"It was no problem, really!" Mrs Tilehurst replied, and hurried off into another room. Ellie pocketed the letter and took hold of James' hand. She looked up and saw his smile which caused her to smile back.

When they had entered the breakfast hall Ellie noticed a very familiar head.

"Jovanna!?"

It was indeed Jovanna Michaels in the flesh. Ravishing as usual but she seemed more beautiful today. She had made her waist-long black hair curl into perfect ringlets. Her blue eyes simply glowed against her unblemished complexion and Ellie suddenly felt a little self-conscious of the batch of freckles all over her nose.

"Ellie! James! It's so nice to see you!" Jovanna cried, jumping off the chair she was sitting in and running to them. Ellie and James were hugged by their friend and then led over to the table she was sitting at. "What are you doing here? I thought James-" but a stern look from James stopped Jovanna's sentence.

"More like what are you doing here? I thought you were still in Scotland?" Ellie asked, not noticing the shared looks between her fiancée and best mate.

"Oh no! Thomas and I are house hunting!" Jovanna said and Ellie watched the blue eyes she had associated with Jovanna for so long become so bright that Ellie thought she might need sunglasses.

"House hunting?" Ellie repeated weakly and Jovanna nodded.

"Yes. We're moving in together, you see," Jovanna explained.

"Ooooh! Does that mean you are…?" James' voice carried on helplessly and Ellie glared at him.

"James, you can't just ask someone something like that!" She snapped but Jovanna waved Ellie off. James shrugged his shoulders.

"No, I'm not pregnant but thanks for the support," Jovanna said, laughing. "I'm waiting for Thomas here. He's just checking out our car right now. We stopped in for some breakfast too."

"Your car?" James asked.

"Thomas has a weird obsession with Muggle cars that I still don't understand. Oh – Here he comes!"

Ellie looked behind them and saw Thomas Murphy making his way towards them. He was a tall man that towered over James. Shaggy, sandy coloured hair and grey eyes made the perfect man in Jovanna's eyes.

"Ellie, James," Thomas greeted when he had reached them. Jovanna was giving him a sappy look that caused Ellie to feel the need to turn away but she was saved from that by Thomas turning to James and staring him down. Ellie laughed inwardly, knowing that James was slightly afraid of Thomas due to his vastness.

"James, mate, you want to see my new car? It's the newest model!" Thomas said enthusiastically.

James' eyes widened. "Ah, Thomas, no thanks–"

"Nonsense! C'mon, I'll even let you test it out!" Thomas boomed and Ellie watched as James was towed away by Thomas. "We'll be back soon Jovanna, Ellie!"

Ellie had one last glimpse of James' frightened face until it had disappeared behind the door. She turned back to Jovanna. "Isn't he wonderful?" Jovanna asked breathlessly; she was beaming.

"He's something Jovanna," Ellie replied and Jovanna seemed to take this as a compliment.

"How was your night?" Jovanna asked suddenly and Ellie's eyebrows furrowed. Her best friend had a knowing look plastered on her face. Did Jovanna know that she and James had had sex?

"What do you mean?" Ellie asked, feeling the red tint come up onto her cheeks.

"You know…" Jovanna said slowly.

Ellie figured it was best just to get it over with. "Yes, we did," Ellie said through gritted teeth.

"I knew it!" Jovanna squealed happily.

"How did you know?"

"That really stupid grin on your face could tell a million stories. Actually, it's kind of like a sixth sense."

"Your sixth sense is finding out if anyone has been intimate with anyone?" Ellie asked sceptically and Jovanna glared at her.

"It's true," Jovanna said angrily.

"Fine, fine but now exactly did you _develop_ this sense?" Ellie asked trying to sound like she actually believed Jovanna.

"Traveling around the world helps you discover a world of possibilities," Jovanna said and Ellie laughed.

"So, you're settling down then?" Ellie asked, hoping that they had passed on the sixth sense conversation.

"Yep. I was offered a job at Hogwarts, teaching Arithmancy but I turned them down," Jovanna said and Ellie gaped.

"Why?"

"I think that being a Healer would be a better job for me than something to due with honing young minds. I applied at St. Mungo's and they've accepted me. I start on Thursday."

"That's great Jovanna!" Ellie said proudly.

"Yes, it is quite great isn't it? How is your job search going along?"

"I'm beginning at The Daily Prophet in a couple of days. Devon Robertson – the Head Editor – is training me. I'm really excited," Ellie said. She couldn't help bragging slightly but Jovanna only grinned.

"Looks like we're both working women now!" She said, excitedly.

"Oh, Thomas and James are coming back!" Jovanna said and Ellie looked around. Sure enough, Thomas and James had made their way to their respective partners. Thomas was still rambling on about an engine as James pretended to took interested.

"Well, Ellie and I have to be on our way now," James said hastily, and Ellie noticed the significant look that James had cast Jovanna. "We'll catch up later."

After saying their goodbyes Jovanna and Thomas left the building leaving Ellie and James to finally have their breakfasts.

"Jovanna's changed," Ellie said, quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she's less of a perfect, little genius. She seems more, well, eccentric and laid-back."

"You can't criticise her on that Ellie. You can be quite the little weirdo sometimes too," James said and Ellie hit him. "Kidding! Can you put Jovanna's new weirdness out of your mind for now? There's something I want to show you before we go."

"What is it?" Ellie asked eagerly, forgetting about Jovanna.

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

Ten minutes later Ellie was gripping onto James' arm again. The horrible choking sensation overtook her but it was over quickly and she found herself able to breath freely again. Ellie looked around. They were behind a cluster of bushes in a park. The park itself was crowded with people and children but as Ellie was about to step out towards the park James steered her around and made her walk through the other end of the bushes. They were standing on a street that wasn't very busy. Ellie was facing a small house. It had a Victorian feel to the outside and it wasn't very large. She already loved the small house but she had no idea why James brought her here.

"Why are we here?"

But James only winked at her and started for the lawn of the house. Ellie followed hesitantly behind. When they made it to the front gate James took a great breath and started talking.

"You remember when you told me what kind of house you wanted? Well, I combed around London searching for it and this is the closest I've come. It's really not a bad home when you look inside but it'll need a bit of work – and if we decide to have kids we'll need to move but it's a good starter home! I think you'll like it and it's in a very nice neigh-"

Ellie figured it was time to stop his rambling. "James, you big prat, I love it!"

"Y-You love it?" James asked faintly, but he was beaming.

"Yes I do," Ellie said happily, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Thank you so much James. Can we go inside?"

"Sure. Fred and Jovanna were a huge help when it came to decorating," James said gratefully, letting Ellie pull him along.

"It's already decorated?" Ellie asked when they had reached the door.

"Yep, and I've started furnishing the bedrooms and stuff but I thought that you'd want to help so I left a lot of stuff undone 'cause I know how much you love to boss people around," James said and opened the door slowly.

Ellie stuck her tongue out at James and entered the house. Their new home had three floors. The first floor had a cozy, little living room which housed a nice-looking fireplace, large kitchen, sitting room with two bookcases full of books and a study. James had left the sitting room and the study's decorating up to Ellie; it made her happy to know that James wanted her to contribute. On the second floor there were three bedrooms. A master bedroom, that James had started to decorate but he told Ellie the rest was up to her and two separate bedrooms that were virtually empty save for some boxes.

The attic was their last room to tour. The stairs came down with a dull clunk and together the young couple made their way into the attic. The attic was tiny but it didn't have the same creepy feeling most attics did instead it had a welcoming feeling to it. There was a small window in the corner of the room that showed a gorgeous view of London. And yet, despite the welcoming feeling the only thing in the attic was an empty, glass bottle.

"What's that for?" Ellie asked and James grinned.

"In case I come home early," James said holding Ellie's body close to him. "It's a portkey, dummy," he added seeing Ellie's confused look.

Ellie grinned. "But I thought you couldn't visit…"

"I got a letter when I was outside with Thomas. It said I'll be allowed to come home every Saturday for a couple of hours. So, now I'll be able to come see you very soon. No need to cry anymore Ellie," James said happily and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Always so full of yourself aren't you?" she muttered but then remembered something. "Oh! My letter!"

Ellie pulled the letter she had gotten from Mrs Tilehurst out of her pocket and opened it up.

_Dear Eleanor Wood, _

_There has been a change regarding your internship at The Daily Prophet. Instead of the internship you were told to be starting this Tuesday, you will be starting a permanent job as an Editor. Tuesday at eight o'clock sharp is when I would like you to meet at the entrance of The Daily Prophet building. Please send a confirmation before Monday. _

_Sincerely, _

_Devon__ Robertson (Head of Editorial Offices) _

Ellie had to re-read the letter twice before it finally sunk in. She was an Editor! "Look James!" Ellie squealed and shoved the letter into James' hands. She watched the smile on his face get larger and larger as his eyes finally roamed to the bottom.

"Congratulations!" James cried and swept Ellie up in a passionate kiss that she returned spontaneously. When they had broken apart James and Ellie were both grinning foolishly.

"I need to confirm the letter," Ellie said and James nodded.

"Be right back," he said and ran out of the room. He returned clutching a quill and parchment in one hand and a bottle of Firewhisky in another. Ellie glared at the bottle and then moved her angry glare up to James' face.

"James!" Ellie said indignantly.

"We need to celebrate!" James said, shrugging. He handed to quill and parchment to Ellie and watched as she wrote a reply. She turned back to James and, forgetting the Firewhisky, asked him something that had just troubled her.

"Where are we supposed to find an owl? I left Pineapple at home!"

"I have an answer to that!" James ran to the one window, opened it as wide as it could go, and whistled. Ellie stared at him confusedly but the flapping of wings alerted her to what James did. A brown owl flew onto the ledge, hooting happily. It was James' owl: Memo.

"Can you take this to The Daily Prophet? Devon Robertson," James explained, taking Ellie's letter and putting it in Memo's face. Memo gave an excited hoot and opened her beak; James placed the letter in her mouth and with another muffled hoot she was gone. James turned to look at Ellie again and waved the Firewhisky in front of her face.

"Oh what the hell!" She cried and grabbed the bottle. "But only one sip," Ellie said and drank half the bottle.

"Yeah, one sip …" James muttered to himself taking the bottle back and staring at it. Ellie's 'one sip' had been half the Firewhisky. Ellie felt a burning in her throat that felt uncomfortable and yet it was also very pleasant. James steadied Ellie as she began to wobble slightly by holding her shoulders.

"I love you," Ellie muttered and crushed herself to James' body. He was very amused by her actions.

"I love you too my wonderful drunk fiancée."

Ellie looked at James. "I'm not drunk you idiot."

"I know. Just trying to wind you up," James admitted happily and Ellie laughed.

"Is it horrible that I still don't want you to leave me?" Ellie asked sheepishly and nuzzled her face into James' chest.

"Not horrible, no. You won't have time to miss me though. You will be finishing up the decorating and getting furniture for the house and when I get back I can criticize your paint choices."

"I'll look forward to it," Ellie mumbled. "I'll miss you at night though. The bed will be empty without you beside me."

James smirked. "I know. But you can always take Pineapple and stuff it in the bed with you."

"You're dumb," Ellie said, but she was fighting back laughter.

"Do you want to leave for a bit. We can roam the streets of London for the rest of the day then stay the night at Mrs Tilehurst's," James suggested. "I have to leave early tomorrow anyways."

"Can we go to Diagon Alley? I need something filled with sugar."

"You're _my_ sugar, sugar," James teased and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Shut up. You know how much I hate it when people use baby, or babe, or _sugar_," Ellie said vehemently.

"That's why I bother you," James said happily. "Ice cream then?"

"Please," Ellie agreed.

Five minutes later Ellie and James were strolling through the crowded street of Diagon Alley. James was licking his triple scoop chocolate cone with vanilla sprinkles and Ellie was practically inhaling her own ice cream (quadruple scoop chocolate/vanilla cone with gummies and sprinkles) as they walked hand in hand.

"How are you going to finish that?" James asked and Ellie laughed.

"By eating it of course Jamie!"

"I bet you if I gave you a brick you would swallow it whole."

"If it had chocolate on it, then of course I would," Ellie said jokingly.

The day was beautiful. The bright sun was beating down on them but there was a slight breeze that cooled the air. Laughter filled the street as children ran through the crowds, holding onto bags filled with treats or toys.

Ellie got distracted by the new broomstick in Quality Quidditch Supplies, and only moved away when James dragged her away from the window. After stopping by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes (where James bought a mountain load of items), The Daily Prophet (Ellie wanted to make sure they had gotten her letter) and Gringotts (Ellie took something out of her vault that she wouldn't show James) they decided to go back to Mrs Tilehurst's.

"I have something to give you," Ellie said five hours after they had arrived back at the bed and breakfast. It was eight o'clock, after dinner and she and James were sitting on the railing of their porch. "I figured that if you had it you wouldn't forget me."

James blinked. "Ellie, for God's sake, I'm not ditching you. I'm leaving tomorrow and coming back in three weeks. I'm even visiting on Saturdays," he said exasperated.

Ellie shook her head a smiled slightly. "I know but I thought since you always give me so much that I should return it. 'Cause, you know, I love you."

There was a silent moment and then James voiced his answer. "I'm not about to pass on a free gift," he said happily and Ellie giggled.

"Let me go get it," she said. Jumping back onto the solid ground of the porch Ellie ran to where her trunk was. James watched her take out something gold but Ellie quickly hid it behind her back. She managed to raise herself onto the raining again and held out her fist to James. Ellie's ring glittered slightly in the moonlight.

James took the item that was in her hand and looked at it. A magical, gold wristwatch was in his hand. It was royal looking and had some kind of crest in the middle. James grinned at Ellie wrapped her hand around his shyly.

"It's the Wood family crest. It's been passed down to the oldest Wood man. My dad had it until he decided to place it in our vault."

"If it's a family heirloom then shouldn't Jason or Patrick take it?"

"I asked dad that too. He just said that you were now part of our family and that we had the honour of passing it down to our son. Anyways, Jason and Patrick are getting some other things. Turn it over," Ellie said and James flipped the watch over. Engraved on the back of the watch was a sentence: Tutnis in Undis. "It means safe on the waves. Dad thinks it means we're safe on the waves because we're flying in the air. Mum thinks he's mad."

James laughed and placed the watch onto his wrist next to the customary watch he had received from his parents on his birthday that July fourth.

"I'm going to look like a prat wearing two watches, you know," James said. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "But, I'll be your prat El."

She laughed. "You're amazing James."

"What can I say? I'm a keeper."

"Actually you're a Chaser."

"The Chaser of your heart!"

"The Seeker of my love!" Ellie trilled.

"The Beater that keeps your heart beating!" James sang. Almost instantly the couple fell into a large batch of laughter. Somehow they carefully moved themselves onto the solid ground of their porch where their laughter finally ceased. The ruby on Ellie's ring started to glitter in the moonlight and Ellie grinned up at James.

"We're never going to ditch that stupid joke, are we?"

"Nope."

"Good," Ellie whispered.

"I love you El."

"Love you more Jamie."

James pulled Ellie's body into a bone-crushing hug. It was uncomfortable but in a way it was also very protecting. The pressure around her body lightened slightly but Ellie kept her arms around her fiancé. He still smelt like oranges. Her favourite fruit. It seemed like a million years ago that her favourite fruit had been bananas. James kissed the top of her head tenderly and Ellie sighed contentedly.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" James asked suddenly and Ellie snorted. "No seriously Ellie!"

"James, I've had Jovanna as my best friend for years and no boy has ever looked at me twice save for maybe three including you."

"You're much prettier than Jovanna and not just in the looks department. I know that I don't want to wake up one morning and see Jovanna's black hair splayed around me. I'd much rather see your horrible red hair all messed up and you grinning your really stupid grin," James said passionately and Ellie cracked a smile.

"Takes a stupid grinner to know a stupid grinner," Ellie said happily.

"See! Jovanna would never make these jokes with me. I'd never be able to tease her like I do you!" James pointed out proudly and Ellie laughed.

"Thank you James," Ellie said and she meant it. She kissed his cheek and grinned exuberantly. "You're quite the looker too James. I think I might have to fend off the admirers with a stick soon."

James laughed and kissed Ellie on the lips lightly. "You have to promise me something okay?"

"Depends," Ellie said, but she was joking.

"Wait for me."

Ellie blinked.

"Now who's being the over reactor," Ellie remarked slyly and James rolled his eyes.

"You're hurting my feelings here El," James said but he was grinning.

"Poor baby," Ellie said.

"So, will you wait for me?" James mumbled into Ellie's hair and she smiled as she watched his face glow faintly red.

"That's a really stupid question Jamie," Ellie answered sincerely and James laughed. "Of course I'll wait for you, idiot!"

"You want to dance with me?"

Ellie blinked the laughed easily. "There's no music James."

"Who says we need music?" James asked stupidly and Ellie smirked. He took her hand into his and placed his other hand on her waist as Ellie placed her free hand on his shoulder. Together they revolved slowly in one spot as the milky twilight glowed down on them.

"You're putting all the other men to shame, you know," Ellie said as she gazed into James' brown eyes cheerfully.

"Well, you know me," James said, unabashed and Ellie giggled. "Want to go to bed?" He asked suddenly and Ellie looked at him. Then, without any warning, her lips crashed into him fiercely and his strong arms wrapped her body up in a tight embrace.

When Ellie woke up the bright sun that was glowing through the curtains made her cringe. She turned over on her side and saw that James had disappeared from her side. Sitting up, Ellie looked around the messy room. The balcony door was open letting in a warm breeze that ruffled the sheer curtains. James was on the standing on the balcony, staring out onto the enormous backyard. He was wearing a pair of pyjama pants and a red t-shirt. Ellie got herself out of bed, hastily put her night gown on then made her way to James' side.

"Nice to see you up Sleeping Ugly," James said jokingly and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Funny how last night you called me beautiful and here you are insulting me again when we're engaged," Ellie retorted laughingly and then became solemn. "What time is it?"

"Nine," James replied simply and Ellie frowned.

"You're leaving really soon James. Only half-an-hour left."

"Yep."

The fifteen minutes that passed was left in silence that neither Ellie nor James wanted to break. It was just too pleasant to be with each other for the moment. When the clock read five minutes to nine-thirty James decided it was time for him to Apparate to the Ministry. Before leaving their room James helped Ellie magically pack their items back and place them in front of the door and both of them got dressed.

The weather was scorching when they made it outdoors in front on the magical bed and breakfast and Ellie grimaced against the light that blinded her eyes. The front yard was completely empty something which Ellie was thankful for. The breeze was welcoming when it came and messed up Ellie's already ruffled red hair. James turned to Ellie and smiled crookedly; she met his smile with a trace of one on her face.

"I'll see you soon, El. Wish me luck, okay?" James asked, and Ellie was surprised to hear how depressed his voice sounded.

"Luck! Try not to miss me too much," Ellie said, trying to sound cheerful. James only smirked and leaned down to kiss Ellie lightly. The kiss was sweet and lingering but when James broke away Ellie found that she wanted more. He gave her another toothy grin, turned around, and started to walk forwards. With satisfaction Ellie saw that he was walking away exceptionally slowly. Ellie caught the glint of the watch she had given him last night and hastily she looked down at her hands. The bracelet she had been given by James was glowing brightly and her engagement ring seemed to be egging her on. A second later James turned around to face her again.

"Oh, what the hell!?" James muttered and in one fluid motion he was running back to her and Ellie's legs were carrying her towards her fiancé. James lifted her up into the air and he was holding on so firmly that Ellie felt as though she had no lungs. The kiss was intimate and yet so open and loud. Their hands grabbed on to each other as though they would never hold each other again. They broke apart for a moment; James lifted Ellie bridal style in the air.

"I love you," she whispered throatily and James smirked.

"Love you more Volcano," James answered and met her lips with his again. The kiss ended much too soon for Ellie's liking and James placed her safely on her feet again. James kissed her cheek slowly once more, gave her his infamous smile and laughed. "Try not to miss me too much alright?"

Ellie laughed and watched James turn and start walking away. Ellie found herself memorizing James' appearance as well as she could. His auburn hair seemed to be waving around more than usual and his back had never looked so appealing. James was about twenty feet away from her when she saw him spin on the spot. One last fast grin and he was gone. There was a sudden emptiness in Ellie but she wasn't going to cry. It wasn't forever and she had a new job to start tomorrow. When she had stepped through the doors Ellie was suddenly blocked by the presence of Mrs Tilehurst.

"Ellie!"

"Oh, hi, Mrs Tilehurst," Ellie said slowly.

"Has James left already?"

"Yep, he's gone alright."

"He's been planning on bringing you here for at least a year now," Mrs Tilehurst said quickly and Ellie felt her mouth open.

"You're kidding!" Ellie cried but Mrs Tilehurst only smiled at the look of surprise clearly written on the young women's face.

"Goodness, no! James has been coming here for a while. Always making the guests feel happy. He really is quite charming and funny, your husband."

"We're still engaged Mrs Tilehurst," Ellie said absently but she knew that she was already as good as married.

"Silly me! Of course you're still engaged," Mrs Tilehurst laughed. "The way James talks about you… Well, let's just say that everyone here has heard enough about you."

Ellie grinned and then something hit her. "So that's why he knew everyone here by name! Whenever we passed someone he always said hello to them!" Ellie said, as Mrs Tilehurst began leading her up the stairs towards Ellie and James' room.

"He's infectious," Mrs Tilehurst said simply. She opened the door to reveal Ellie and James' bedroom. It was immensely clean and pristine without a hair out of place. Her broom and trunk were waiting in the same place they had been when she had left the room. "Would you like some help?"

"No thanks, Mrs Tilehurst. I'm quite capable," Ellie said strongly and Mrs Tilehurst nodded. Then, without a second though, Ellie was crushed inside a huge hug from Mrs. Tilehurst.

"Mrs Tilehurst, please, can't breathe!" Ellie choked out and was grateful when she released her hold.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" It seemed as though Mrs Tilehurst was struggling to hold something back. But, then the look was gone and Ellie found out what was troubling Mrs Tilehurst. "You and James remind me so much of my husband and me."

Ellie tried to hide the shocked expression on her face again and smiled faintly. "What's his name?"

"His name was Tristan," Mrs Tilehurst said fondly. "He was very witty and charming; always had a joke or two up his sleeve. I fell in love immediately as did he even when he had women lining up in front of his home for him. You see, women were drawn to him for some reason. I have never wished I could be an exception," Mrs Tilehurst finished and Ellie watched the old lady have a look on grave longing grace her wrinkled features.

"He died two years after we were married. He was only twenty-four," Ellie gasped when she heard Mrs Tilehurst confess the terrible truth.

"I'm so sorry Mrs Tilehurst-" Ellie began but was stopped by Mrs Tilehurst's hand.

"Please, Ellie. Call me Agatha."

"Yes, alright Agatha. D-did you ever get over his death?" Ellie asked without thinking and momentarily felt like kicking herself for asking such a thoughtless question.

"Not completely, no. I've always felt like it would be an insult to his memory if I forgot him but I do know that it would hurt him far more if I was never happy again. He did always say that he loved my laugh," Agatha said sadly but a faint grin was on her face. "Tristan always wanted to open a bed and breakfast together. We never got around to it. So, when he died this was the only thing that I could do to start healing myself." There was another pause in which Ellie clutched Mrs Tilehurst's aged hand comfortingly. "I guess you could say I married this house."

Tears were slowly cascading out of Agatha's beautiful blue eyes and flowing freely to the ground. Ellie gripped Agatha's hand tighter. "Sometimes you just have to pull through," Agatha said and smiled a watery smile in Ellie's direction. Agatha took her hand out of Ellie's grasp and dried her tears quickly.

"Now, enough of all this pity. I've taken the liberty to pack you some of those scones I've heard that you love," Agatha said. Ellie couldn't help but notice that Agatha had returned back to the kind, non-weepy lady that she had been when Ellie first met her. "_Accio scones_."

A brown paper bag flew into the room and Agatha caught it easily. She handed the bag over to Ellie.

Ellie sneaked a peak inside and was overcome with the delicious smell of homemade blueberry scones. With great self-discipline Ellie withdrew her face from the bag, crinkled the top shut so as to not let the smell tempt her again and thanked Agatha. In four minutes flat Ellie had all her stuff ready to go and was standing outside watching the sky become gradually darker as though some kind of dull, grey blanket was covering it, making sure that the sun would not be able to make it through the darkness.

Agatha clucked. "Rain," she muttered angrily. Agatha had insisted that she should go outside and say goodbye to Ellie properly, without any tears. In stark contrast there seemed to be an influx of guests roaming around the yard.

"I think that I'm going home first, and then I'm going to my new home. The house James picked out for us," Ellie said. She, truthfully, did not know why she was spilling this to Agatha but Ellie felt much closer and respectful towards the lady since Agatha had confessed such a personal trouble to her.

"You'll have to visit soon," Agatha said sternly pointing a finger at Ellie. It greatly amused Ellie since Agatha was at least two heads shorter than her. "And, you must make James bring your children here as well."

Ellie laughed. "I'll make sure of it," she replied. Ellie knew that one day she and James _would _bring their kids here. "Agatha?"

"Yes?"

"Did you ever have children?" Ellie asked. She did not know what possessed her to ask such a question but Ellie knew that Agatha would not be insulted.

"Alas, no. Tristan and I never managed to have that gift in out lives. And I know that I will never be blessed with any. I'm much more content being something of a grandmother towards my friends' children."

"You'll be more than that to my kids Agatha," Ellie promised. Agatha smiled gratefully.

"Thank you Ellie. Now get on your way," Agatha ordered and waved Ellie off. With a quick wave of Ellie's wand her trunk and broom had disappeared to her house. Agatha pulled Ellie in for another hug and kissed her cheek gently.

A raindrop had landed exactly on Agatha's nose. Ellie twirled on the spot and saw Agatha waving solemnly as the rain began pounding in full force. The choking feeling was gone as suddenly as it had come and Ellie found herself standing in front of her house. Staring up at the sky Ellie noticed – with grave happiness – that it looked like it was about to rain here as well.

"Don't know if I should be happy or not," Ellie grumbled to herself and trudged up the pathway that led to her doorstep.

The weeks that passed seemed to be moving in slow motion for Ellie. She had moved out of her parents' house and after many tears from her mother and even a couple from her father Ellie felt completely independent. She felt empowered. Ellie had decorated the remaining rooms lavishly but kept them looking as though they weren't totally feminine. Every Sunday Ellie visited Agatha Tilehurst. They had tea and ate scones at exactly noon. Becoming the Editor for a major newspaper had made Ellie clearly, very busy but she _always_ found time for the old lady. All of Ellie's colleagues were very friendly and helpful towards Ellie and she found herself wishing that she had started sooner.

Of course every single Saturday was the day that Ellie put aside. James came back at ten o'clock exactly and the very first thing he did was kiss her. And she kissed him back with enthusiasm and excitement, trying to make up for the many lost kisses they missed. After they would sit and talk, snuggled up together inside their living room as the fire crackled merrily around them even with the warm days still being among them. Sometimes they would talk about James and how his training was going. He would tell her all about how well he was doing and all the new people he had met. Sometimes they would talk about Ellie and how she was faring as an Editor. Ellie would spill everything in the short time span they had. But usually they just talked about everything that had happened to them: from the first bite of breakfast to their last thought before bed. There was much more kissing after all the talking. Whenever James came back it seemed as though life had gone back to normal.

Today was the day James was coming back. Today was the day that Ellie had been waiting for. Today was the day.

Ellie had slept up in the attic, just so she wouldn't miss James' arrival. And when the portkey had lit up with a bluish glow Ellie could feel her anticipation brewing to a dangerous level. She was still wearing her bright yellow pyjamas (with the matching slippers) and her hair looked as though a tornado had hit it and left debris scattered everywhere. And then James had appeared, dropped his bag on the floor and their eyes met. There was a split second in which their eyes raked each other. Ellie took in his faded jeans (James' favourite pair), his green t-shirt, those black glasses and the same messy hair that left Ellie breathless.

"I missed you."

Together, as a pair, they crashed together forcefully. Ellie felt herself slammed up against the wall, and yet, it didn't hurt because James was the one and only thing Ellie could focus upon: the smell of his hair, the sound of his voice, the wonderful giddiness that had welled up in her.

"I missed you so much," Ellie breathed huskily as James' lips caressed her neck area.

"It's been a week," James mumbled and Ellie laughed.

"Exactly."

"Have I ever told you you're really impatient?" James lifted his head upwards to face Ellie's eyes. She sighed inwardly: Ellie had really missed those eyes especially.

"Maybe."

They laughed again even though their conversation was not even remotely hilarious. Both parts of the couple were just glad to be with each other. James still had another three years to go before he became a fully fledged Auror but now the solitary abroad training was over and he was training at the Ministry.

Love was a funny thing, Ellie thought as she found her brain shutting off. It could make you feel loved in a second and yet, it could also send you in a downward spiral but for some reason Ellie didn't care. She had been in love since fifth year with the same man she was kissing right now.

James' lips parted from her's and he rested his head tenderly on her forehead. "I can hear your heart beat," James whispered and Ellie laughed.

"Love you,"

"Love you much, much more."

And then their lips met again, in a sweeter embrace. At that exact moment Ellie realized she felt more at peace and happy than she had ever been her whole life.

**Again, I'm seriously sorry for how long it's taken me to finish this! Next chapter hopefully won't take as long; keep your fingers crossed. So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (it was the longest one I've written so far) and to those who have stuck with me then I give you all cyber cookies. Reviews would be lovely! **


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